Private Equity (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment) Bill

I agree with the hon. Gentleman completely. The problem is that I had to put a long title to the Bill when I started. Initially, I thought that the Bill would deal just with private equity companies, but I realised that the issue went beyond those companies. I tried to take out the title and put in something new, but as the hon. Gentleman knows, I cannot do that until I get into Committee. I wanted to change the title to the ““Transfer of Equity (Protection of Employment) Bill””, but because I had set out the title already, I could not change it. There are other things that I want to change, but I cannot change any of them until I get into Committee. I am a realist; I recognise that I need to change the Bill significantly enough in Committee to satisfy the Minister, the Department and a section of the business community. I do not think that I am going to convince everybody. Some people are against any form of regulation—I am not going to convince them. However, there are people in the industry who are involved with such takeovers who will back legislation along these lines. I say again, this Bill is not an attack on private equity. I want to make that really clear. I have had help from people in the industry, who have told me what is wrong with my Bill.