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

My hon. Friend's most recent exchange has raised an important point. As he says, his ambition is to do no more than give employees the right to be consulted. That is not a huge right; in fact, Conservative Governments have granted such rights in the recognition that they are right and just. Earlier, my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) raised the role of sovereign wealth funds. The ambitions and motivations of such funds may be very different from those of traditional equity purchases. There might be more consensus across the House than Conservative Members believe at the moment. A minimum right to consultation for employees might be an important beginning of some form of protection against the denuding of British industry by rampaging sovereign wealth funds from abroad.