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Carers

My hon. Friend is making a series of excellent points. Does he share my great disappointment in the Government's reaction to the Committee's proposal to give carers the right to request flexible working as soon as they start a job, instead of having to wait for 26 weeks? In their response, the Government said that they were opposed to introducing that right from day one, because the 26-week period is required to build a relationship of trust between employer and employee. Does he share my view that, after 26 weeks, if the carer is under pressure, and has had to leave work early, there will be no relationship of trust? In fact, the chances are that the carer will have found it impossible to last 26 weeks and, therefore, to get to the point at which they are eligible to request flexible working.