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Proceeding contribution from David Nuttall (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Friday, 22 October 2010. It occurred during Debate on bill on Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill.


Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. It is more complex perhaps than I originally intimated. Section 232B(2)(b) says that, in relation to a ballot, if there is a failure or there are failures in respect of a provision mentioned in subsection (2) or other provisions, and the failure or failures are accidental and on a scale that is unlikely to affect the result of the ballot, those can be disregarded. It is worthy of note that the section already makes provision not just for a single failure but for failures, so it already provides for more than one failure. There could be several failures and the law accepts that at the moment. It accepts that there could be multiple failures and the existing legislation would still potentially allow those to be disregarded by the courts, as happened in the case that has been so often referred to this morning—the case of British Airways plc v. Unite. There were a number of errors. The Court of Appeal, by a majority, decided to allow the appeal and discharged the injunction that had been obtained at first instance by the court.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
516 c1227 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Disclosure of information Ballots Industrial disputes Injunctions Trade unions Torts Strikes British Airways Unite
Legislation
Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk