Equality Bill

My Lords, I will say briefly from these Benches that I strongly support what the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said in opposition to the amendment. Many people in this country are employed in small companies, as has already been indicated. The Bill is about individual rights as much as anything. If an amendment of this kind, with this sort of arrangement, were to be on the statute book, a large number of people would not have the benefit of employment rights of any kind. That would be totally unacceptable. I understand that in some instances it may be felt that very small companies may have problems, but one cannot have a situation in which 250 people—quite a high number—do not have access to the employment rights that other people have.