Employment Rights Bill: Productivity

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

There is plenty of time. We will hear from my noble friend first and then from the noble Lord, Lord Fox.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, will be familiar with the Cambridge Centre for Business Research 2024 policy brief, which my noble friend referred to. It is titled The Economic Effects of Changes in Labour Laws, and it tracks changes in legislative protection for workers around the world from 1970 onwards, including in the UK. The conclusions of this research speak directly to the Employment Rights Bill. On 5 March, Professor Simon Deakin, the CBR director and co-author of this brief, stated that

“stronger labour protection is associated with higher employment and lower unemployment”

and that

“laws, including those regulating flexible working, working time, and employee representation, can have positive productivity effect”.

In anticipation of Committee on the Bill, will my noble friend the Minister join with me in inviting Professor Deakin and his research colleague to come to Parliament and to brief us on their findings, and, if they accept, will the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, accept a challenge to put the case that the CBR’s conclusions are not supported by 50 years of global datasets underpinning its research and therefore do not justify the causative link?

US Steel and Aluminium Tariffs

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from my noble friend Lady Rafferty.

[Baroness Rafferty (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the Opposition’s sudden interest in the fortunes of the British steel industry—a sector which was neglected over the past 15 years and has suffered enormously as a result. This Government launched a consultation on a steel strategy earlier this year. Could my noble friend update the House on the status of that consultation? How soon does she envisage the strategy being brought forward?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Macpherson of Earl’s Court (CB)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, next and then the noble Lord, Lord Caine.

[Baroness Hoey (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I think that His Majesty’s Government are quite right not to rush into retaliatory measures, but will the Minister say whether they are giving any thought to what will happen when the EU retaliates? What happens to Northern Ireland, which has been left within the EU for these kinds of matters? That is something that they need to be looking at urgently.

Generative AI: Intellectual Property Rights

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Noble Lords]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, shall we hear from the former Leader of the House next? Then we will hear from the Cross Benches.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

I am very grateful to the noble Lord. Copyright clearly affects a lot of different sectors, but given the value of real-time news to the AI platforms, particularly in the production of services and products that they offer to consumers, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that there is a mutually beneficial deal between the platforms and news organisations, so that we can safeguard the content that will be so important to the continuing advancement of this technology?

Online Safety Legislation: Abuse on Social Media

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the Lib Dem Benches and then from the Conservative Benches.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

I thank the noble Lord. Does the Minister agree—

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

I am getting used to being heckled.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the Lib Dem Benches now and then from the Conservative Benches.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

Does the Minister agree that digital literacy is crucial, so that people are better able to identify often damaging misinformation and fake news? What is the Government’s strategy in that respect?