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

I congratulate the hon. Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. Heppell) on his success in the private Members' ballot and on introducing a Bill that he believes will do some good for the rights of British workers. I was a little disappointed that the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke) refused to take my intervention. He suggested that all that was being asked was that the Bill be allowed to go upstairs, where it could be kicked about a bit to see what impact it would have. I have been successful in a few private Members' ballots, but only one Bill was enacted, and that was because it had the support of a Conservative Government. An enlightened view was not taken on my other Bills because the Labour Government were not interested in giving them a fair wind. If the right hon. Gentleman looks at his voting record on Fridays, he might find that he voted with the Government not to send private Members' Bills upstairs for them to be dissected and considered. We know that private Members' Bills are an opportunity to introduce a measure that the promoter would dearly love to be enacted, but that is contingent on the Government's view, which is why we wait with bated breath to hear whether the Minister believes that the Bill should go upstairs to be operated on—it appears that it will require extensive surgery—and resuscitated in a form that can still walk and breathe. I suspect not, from what I have heard this morning. I have mentioned Brussels a few times. I suspect that this week we have witnessed another takeover of this place by Brussels, yet I see no protection of the rights of the British people in the form of a referendum. However, I put that to one side. For measures such as this Bill, what happens in Brussels is important. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) and the hon. Member for Nottingham, East, I would far prefer to see us enacting legislation that we think is important, so the sovereignty of this House is important. At the same time, we must recognise that the powers that we have shifted to Brussels and those that it has taken to itself over the years mean that we could legislate in one area, but Brussels could then propose something similar or completely different. We need more investigation on that. As my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley said, colossal sums are being shifted around—far more than I can even pretend to understand—and some of that is pension fund money in which trade unions invest. The pensioners who will be in receipt of the money that is invested will have been workers and will not want their investments to be abused in such a way that workers' rights will be denied. We should have a fuller understanding of exactly what funds and investments we are discussing. Some of the investments are long term; they are not about getting in, doing some damage and seeing how much profit can be made before getting out, without due deference to the investments made. As I said in an intervention, in many cases investments are made in businesses that are believed to be going concerns, and the last thing anyone wants to do is meddle with the business or change it any way, shape or form.