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

My hon. Friend raises a valid point, and I am sure that what he describes would make us all better off. If every other country in the world were taking the same route, the proposal might have more merit, because British businesses would not be put at a potential disadvantage. I have always been a fan of multilateral rather than unilateral action. Labour Members might argue that if we took the lead and introduced such a proposal, every other country might follow. I have never been particularly taken with that argument. It was, of course, the argument used by CND in the 1980s—that if we got rid of all our nuclear weapons, everyone else would follow suit. I was never persuaded by that argument then, and I am not particularly persuaded that if we were to have an avalanche of workers' rights, every other country in the world would automatically follow suit. I suspect that most other countries would say, ““What a set of fools you have been. We will now exploit the competitive advantage you have just handed us.”” I therefore agree with the thrust of my hon. Friend's point.