Oral Answers to Questions

Tracy Gilbert Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

As is so often the case when we have these exchanges, the shadow Secretary of State spends a lot of his time slagging off his own record in office. The Conservatives had 14 years to reform tribunal rights—they did not even touch it. They had 14 years to update workers’ rights and employment status in this country—they did not do it. The economy moved forward; they failed to move forward.

Turning to the issue of Peter Mandelson, I start by recognising that there are victims at the heart of this debate and the issues surrounding it. Those victims are in my mind today as I answer this question, and they have been all the way through. We will make sure that those victims get the justice they deserve. When it comes to the issues surrounding Peter Mandelson, there are multiple inquiries under way. Thames Valley police is leading on a criminal inquiry, and I will leave it at that.

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

T3. I refer Members to my declaration of interest as a former employee of USDAW. The new rights of trade union access in the Employment Rights Act 2025 could be game changing, but there is a proposal to cap fines for breaking new rules at £75,000, which is loose change for union-busting employees like Amazon. Will my hon. Friend consider setting fines at a percentage of global turnover, as is the case for GDPR breaches and ticket touting websites?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her work in this area. The Government believe that trade unions are absolutely essential for tackling insecurity, inequality, discrimination, enforcement and low pay. We are providing a legal framework for businesses and unions to negotiate access to the workplace. We recognise that for the framework to effectively facilitate that access, it has to be supported. That is why we are consulting on this. Officials are reviewing those responses, and we will publish a response in due course.