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Points of Order
3.31 pm
Mr. Jerry Hayes (Harlow): On a point of order, Madam Speaker. May I first unreservedly apologise to the House, to you and to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for not being in my place for Question 2 today. There is never any excuse for missing a question without giving notice. There is, however, a mitigating circumstance that I hope you will be kind enough to take into account. As you know, London Radio has just sacked 80 per cent. of its staff and I was summoned to a meeting that went on longer than I thought, but I do apologise.
Madam Speaker: I accept the hon. Gentleman's apology.
Mr. Tony Marlow (Northampton, North): On a point of order, Madam Speaker. You will have heard today that the European Court has sentenced the British taxpayer to pay compensation to the Spanish fishing fleet. That will obviously sit ill with British fishermen. You have also heard that Her Majesty's Government will raise that issue, properly, at the intergovernmental conference. The House would like to know what Her Majesty's Government could achieve by raising the issue at the IGC. Have you heard whether Her Majesty's Government wish to make a statement to the House? It is a matter of fundamental sovereignty about which the House should be informed before too long.
Mr. Nicholas Budgen (Wolverhampton, South-West) rose--
Madam Speaker: Let me answer the hon. Gentleman because it may be helpful. We have heard the Deputy Prime Minister in the exchanges today. As yet, I have not heard that the Government are seeking to make a
statement. As the news came in only about lunchtime, perhaps the Government are reflecting on the matter.We may hear something tomorrow.
Mr. Budgen: Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: I will not take any further points of order on this matter. It is not a point of order for me.I have dealt with it to the best of my ability. It is for the Government to make a statement and for the House to listen if one is made tomorrow.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray) rose--
Madam Speaker: I call Mrs. Ewing. I hope that it is not the same point of order.
Mrs. Ewing: On a different point of order, Madam Speaker. It follows from your remark that the Government might be reflecting on the IGC issue and the common fisheries policy. I wonder therefore, given the Deputy Prime Minister's positive remark today, which we all responded to effectively, whether it would be possible for you to use your influence to ensure that a meeting occurs between the Deputy Prime Minister or others who are interested and Back-Bench Members who represent fishing industries to discuss the possibility of theCFP being put on the IGC agenda.
Madam Speaker: That is not a matter for me.My point was that perhaps the Government are reflecting on the possibility of making a statement to the House now that the decision is known, so that the House may ask questions on the statement.
BILL PRESENTED
Commonwealth of Europe
Mr. Tony Benn presented a Bill to provide for the establishment of a Commonwealth of Europe, and for purposes connected therewith: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time upon Friday 12 July and to be printed. [Bill 70.]
Part-Time Employees (Equal Rights to Holidays)
3.34 pm
Mr. Chris Davies (Littleborough and Saddleworth): I beg to move,
- That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide that employers shall give to their part-time staff either the same holiday entitlements as they do to their full-time staff, or a minimum period as specified.
The Bill will make it illegal for employers to give part-time staff fewer holidays than full-time staff, and will introduce in Britain minimum holiday entitlements of the kind that will shortly be enjoyed by workers in every other country in the European Union.
The Bill does not stand on its own. It will prove to be the first of a number of measures to be introduced byhon. Members from different parties--which, I believe, will demonstrate the general feeling in the House that it is time that part-time workers were given a fair deal and the due protection of law. I thank officers of the TUC and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, who have done a great deal to identify the problems of discrimination in the work place which too many part-time workers encounter.
As hon. Members will know, the number of part-time employees has increased rapidly in recent years. Part-time work now provides employment for some 5 million people. According to the 1993 employment census, at that time there were some 19,000 part-time workers in my borough of Oldham, and some 17,000 in neighbouring Rochdale. The vast majority of those part-time workers are women: nearly half the women who work in my constituency work part time. Part-time work can and should result from a positive choice, but for some it is a necessity. Whatever the motivation, however, it is surely right for Parliament to lay down some basic entitlements for every employee, which should include a minimum period of leave based pro rata on the leave allowed to full-time workers.
Britain is now the only country in the European Union in which employees have no legal right to paid annual leave--
Mr. David Evans (Welwyn Hatfield):
Good.
Mr. Davies:
--and part-time workers bear the brunt of that omission. A Conservative Member has just shouted "Good": that pretty well sums up the difference between Conservative and Opposition attitudes to potential employees.
A third of all part-time workers in this country--1.7 million people--receive no paid holidays; a few, just 13 per cent., receive less than two weeks. Who are we to deny part-time workers even a modest period of paid leave? As Members of Parliament, we claim the right to nearly 20 weeks a year, during which we have the freedom to choose when to take our family holidays. [Interruption.] There is privilege for some, and a denial of rights for others.
The Bill will impose no burden on the majority of employers, who already show consideration to their part-time staff, but it will bring into line the bosses whose attitude to their employees is one of contempt rather than respect. It is a fact that some employers will take advantage of other human beings in the sure and certain knowledge
that they can be made to accept not only the low wages that are often part and parcel of part-time work, but the denial of entitlements that other employees expect as a matter of course. That is why we must lay down the basic minimum requirements, and provide statutory protection for employees who are in a weaker position.
Britain was the first industrial society in the world, and, despite the arguments advanced by some hon. Members who have been calling out from a sedentary position,it need not yet be considered a sweatshop economy in which inequalities will inevitably grow. Good employers, who are determined to build for the long term, recognise that they will gain employee loyalty and high productivity only from a work force that is treated with respect and compassion.
As a proportion of this country's total wage bill, the cost of creating a minimum entitlement to paid leave for part-time workers will be very small, and it will of course be nil for employers who already ensure that their part-time workers receive proper holiday entitlement. Employers who are forced to meet the cost for the first time should find themselves amply compensated, if they do the job properly and ensure that their employees are properly motivated, by gaining the benefits of enhanced productivity and staff loyalty, which should be the basis for any successful business.
This measure will not leave Britain in a less competitive position than its European partners--
Mr. Barry Porter (Wirral, South):
Oh, yes?
Mr. Davies:
The hon. Gentleman says, "Oh, yes".It will not leave us in a less competitive position for the very good reason--of which he should be aware--that, in November this year, the European Union's working time directive will come into force and set a minimum three-week holiday requirement for workers throughout the European Union, which will rise to four weeks in 1999, except, of course, in Britain.
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