Employment Law (Beecroft Report) Debate

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Ann Clwyd

Main Page: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Employment Law (Beecroft Report)

Ann Clwyd Excerpts
Monday 21st May 2012

(12 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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I totally agree, and I only wish that that were the case on the Opposition Benches.

Ann Clwyd Portrait Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)
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If the Business Secretary has read the report, why did he say to the BBC this morning:

“Britain has already got a very flexible co-operative labour force…We don’t need to scare the wits out of workers with threats of dismissal. It’s completely the wrong approach”?

Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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Because, as the Secretary of State rightly points out, we need to ensure that we are able to continue to compete. It is good that we have been able to secure 600,000 jobs in the private sector, but we need more. We are not in the business of trying to scare the workers. We are not somehow trying to rip up their basic rights. We want to ensure that an effective modern economy has the quality and calibre of employees that it needs. That is at the heart of our policies, and I hope that the Opposition will join us and ensure that they do not seek to scare people.