UK Parliament / Open data

Debate on the Address

Proceeding contribution from Ed Miliband (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 8 May 2013. It occurred during Queen's speech debate on Debate on the Address.

I will not give way for the moment.

Clearly, many people raised the issue of immigration during the campaign. The Government’s proposals are limited measures that they have announced before, but the Opposition will look at them. However, I want to mention one very important measure missing from the immigration Bill. The Bill fails to tackles the issues of jobs and pay, which are at the heart of people’s concerns. The problem is the employers who use cheap labour, through both illegal and legal migration, to exploit and undercut workers who are already here. Let us be frank. Right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House will know of many examples brought to them by constituents. There has been only one prosecution since 2010 for failure to pay the minimum wage, but that does not reflect the reality across the country. We will therefore seek to amend the immigration Bill to take action on the problems of employers not paying the minimum wage; recruitment agencies that use only overseas labour; and slum landlords using overcrowded housing for—again—both legal and illegal migrants. There is nothing on that last problem in the Bill.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
563 c16 
Session
2013-14
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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