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Employment Bill [Lords]

My interest is clearly stated in the Register of Members' Interests. It forms no part of the debate because a law firm would act for either party in a dispute. What has happened—hon. Members may agree with this—is that the Government have presided over a period of greed and arrogance on economic matters. The Labour Government have come to represent the zenith of boom and bust. They have taken the nation to the brink of recession. Businesses across the UK now face difficult decisions as a result. Jobs will be lost and businesses may fold. The last thing the Government should do is hand the power to self-interested employee groups to hold companies to ransom. The Government would be wrong to do anything that more than simply dismisses the new clause. If they do not, it would add yet further weight to the rumours that the ““beer and sandwich”” culture of the 1970s has worked its way back into Downing street.