No more concessions, says minister after legislation was thwarted in upper house despite manifesto climbdown
The government has vowed that there will be no more concessions on the employment rights bill and that it will force the Lords to vote on it again next week, after Conservative and cross-bench peers blocked it on Wednesday night.
Ministers and trade unions expressed fury that the bill was voted down again in the House of Lords by peers protesting against the lifting of the compensation cap for unfair dismissal, calling it “cynical wrecking tactics that risk a constitutional crisis”.
The bill will return to the Commons on Monday and will be back in the Lords by Tuesday, a government source said, suggesting that it would then consider further sittings to pass the bill by Christmas.
The lifting of the cap was part of a deal brokered by the government with unions and business lobby groups, which included a major concession on rights for protection against unfair dismissal.
The government agreed for workers to qualify for protection after six months, instead of the current two years, despite day-one rights being a Labour manifesto pledge. Unions agreed to this climbdown alongside the lifting of the compensation cap for unfair dismissal.
A government source said there was no chance of backing down on the cap and suggested that if peers persisted with blocking the bill, they would anger business leaders who had agreed the deal to see the bill pass by Christmas. “A deal’s...
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