Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill

It makes a change to be called first in a Friday debate. [Interruption] Yes, or ever. I usually h...

I, too, have put my name to this amendment, and I intend to speak to it in a few moments. The way...

Absolutely; I could not agree with my hon. Friend more. I accept that the Bill has had a good run...

When I lost my daughter, she was grown up—she was not a child—and I want to suggest that people m...

I am sorry to hear about the hon. Lady’s experience. It would be interesting to hear the Minister...

There was a degree of shock among the members of the Bill Committee at the evidence of employers ...

My hon. Friend is right. The vast majority of employers will be considerate and understanding and...

I support my hon. Friend’s case for protecting bereaved employees by ensuring that notice periods...

My hon. Friend has clearly read my amendment 9, which talks about a “reasonable” notice period. I...

My hon. Friend is making some strong points. He will be aware that there is already a requirement...

My hon. Friend is right that a reasonable employer will behave differently from the type of perso...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument. As for whether employers will act reasonably, this ...

My hon. Friend is right. In a small or micro-business with four or five employees, the relationsh...

It is just as important that an employee is supported when they go back to work. I was working on...

It is apt to reflect on the NHS, which provides such support to its staff as well as to its patie...

The hon. Gentleman is making a good point about ensuring the Bill is as flexible as possible, and...

Bereavement leave should be a day one right, and I am reasonably supportive of the hon. Gentleman...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Does he agree that amendments 6, 21 and 24 would not w...

The amendments would widen the scope a bit. An employee aged 61, 62 or 63 might lose a relative i...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. I do not usually disagree with my hon. Friend the Memb...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, and I take on board what he says. Perhaps my hon. Fr...

I totally agree with the points that my hon. Friend is making. The key thing is getting the Bill ...

I take the points my hon. Friend is making. As I said at the outset, I fully support the Bill—I h...

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points. The Bill has an impact on the Treasury, with an a...

Obviously my hon. Friend is right to say that a balance needs to be struck. On issues such as how...

rose—

Given that I referred to my hon. Friend, I had best let him intervene.

Surely the key point is the difference between rigidity and clarity. The fact that management and...

We are introducing the Bill to set out in law more clarity on what Parliament expects. We have to...

Yes, why not?

It must be wonderful being one of my hon. Friend’s constituents—we will all be emailing him at 3 ...

rose—

I think that I am about to hear it now, so I happily give way.

I am happy to come back on this point. We are clearly dealing with a minimum here. We expect empl...

I take on board my hon. Friend’s point, but legislating is not just about sending a signal—we can...

My hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) makes a good point. The Bill e...

I thank my hon. Friend for making the point that this is about the minimum rather than the maximu...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his extremely detailed and thoughtful speech. Will he confirm my...

I think that my hon. Friend’s interpretation is correct, but perhaps the Minister will cover that...

I echo hon. Members’ comments about the Bill setting the minimum, but it is important that we als...

I recognise that for some employers, particularly microbusinesses in which there might be only tw...

My hon. Friend makes a strong point. The world of work is certainly changing. He will be aware of...

I thank my hon. Friend for helping to bring some clarity to the matter. I did not want to get bac...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster).

I thank the hon. Memb...

May I put on record my thanks to the hon. Lady for her work on this Bill, particularly during Com...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. What the Bill has shown, across this House, is the...

It was a pleasure to serve with the hon. Lady on the Bill Committee. She is absolutely right to h...

The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point, and I was just about to move on to that. I agree who...

I pay tribute to the hard work that my hon. Friend has put into this Bill and the passion with wh...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We have to bear it in mind that the relationship between...

The hon. Lady is making some powerful points. She is right that this is about the impact on the p...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I listened very carefully to the personal examp...

I remember speaking at an event on child loss at which a solicitor who had acted in many, many ca...

The hon. Lady’s point is very well made, and I could not agree more. The initial input at the ear...

What a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson). S...

If someone adopts a child, they become the parent as far as the law is concerned. There are also ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, as he often is. That is why I was so delighted to add my name...

My hon. Friend is making a very good point. Does he agree that the bonus of his amendment 17 is t...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has the benefit of being a lawyer and will therefore have ...

This is an important and sensitive issue. I am acutely aware that some Members who have been invo...

The hon. Gentleman is making good points and speaking very movingly. Does he accept that this is ...

The hon. Gentleman is right and I commend him on promoting this Bill. I would like to pick up on ...

Does the shadow Minister agree that this is about setting a floor, not a ceiling?

Yes, I agree. I believe that bereavement pay rightly has the support of the whole House. It is im...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I remember serving on my very first Bill Comm...

If the hon. Gentleman thinks that by doing so he can waste time and delay the debate on the next ...

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak. My heart goes out to everybody who has been affe...

For those who lose a child in childbirth or before birth—for example a stillbirth—there would hav...

I completely agree. The state and the taxpayer have a responsibility to contribute. If someone is...

I have been looking for information about international comparisons, and the reason why there is ...

I completely echo my hon. Friend’s comments. I pay tribute to my hon. Friends the Members for Thi...

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points. As I am sure she is aware, there is a consultatio...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and for clarifying that very specific time of 11.45 p...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the priority is that the provisions do not become a cliff edge, me...

I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution. He made that point earlier and he is right that we n...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) and to speak i...

I appreciate the comments that my hon. Friend has just made about the amendments. Does he agree t...

My hon. Friend has put it extremely well, far better than I did. It is, of course, right for us t...

My hon. Friend is making a very good speech. Some powerful arguments have been made on both sides...

indicated assent.

I see that my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton is indicating his agreement with my ho...

I can confirm that my hon. Friend’s interpretation is correct. I wanted to make clear what the st...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his additional clarification. We are in complete agreement.