UK Parliament / Open data

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill

With the leave of the House, I thank everybody here today for their support. This is a debating Chamber, and it is important that views and concerns can be expressed. I hear both sides, and I hear the concerns that this measure will stifle people just expressing an opinion. As I said, I am a liberal; I think it is important that people can express their opinions. The main thing is that we are creating respectful workplaces.

In response to the hon. Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain), I understand the frustration about diluting the spirit of the Bill, but the sexual harassment provisions in the Bill are not being diluted; the amendments relate to other forms of harassment. I hope that by having these debates across the House we can ultimately come to a consensus on the right thing to do, because our workplaces will be better if we create ones that are free of harassment, where people are much more productive. I am sure that employers will get behind the spirit of the Bill.

It has been encouraging to see the widespread support for the Bill. I would like to thank again the Government Equalities Office, the Women and Equalities Committee, the TUC, the Fawcett Society, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the wider alliance of organisations that have campaigned and worked towards change for a long time to make this Bill a reality.

We have turned a blind eye to workplace harassment for too long. This Bill will help to prevent harassment, protect victims and change the culture around victim blaming. Obviously, the Bill is not enough on its own to tackle workplace harassment, and I reiterate that the Government need to consider the concerns of the “This Is Not Working” alliance and the EHRC. However, it is an important step in the right direction, and I hope it will continue to get the support it deserves; our workplaces will be better for it. I commend this Bill to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
727 c600 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Back to top