Speeches by Griffiths.

“The hon. Member knows that I will always support fair process, but the point I was making is that this clause will make it more difficult for employers to take on prison leavers, care leavers, candidates with a non-traditional CV, career changers, and young people who are just looking for that first rung on the jobs la…”

“Would the Minister be kind enough to name one of those businesses on the press release? [Interruption.] He had better look at the press release just to check.”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I know that the hon. Lady has not been in the Chamber for most of the debate, so she will have missed many of the discussions where my hon. Friends have explained the nuance of our position on this, which relates to the law of unintended consequences where publicans and nightclub owners could be responsible for policin…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Maybe I am pre-empting the answer the hon. Member was going to give, but what exactly are the measures in this Bill and the amendments—the magic potion—that will improve productivity?”

“In the last 30 years, I have worked in businesses of every size in numerous sectors, from consumer goods to cyber-security and insurance to cloud infrastructure. I may not be a lawyer, but I feel well qualified to comment on this Bill. The Government need not take it from me; if only they had listened to the businesses…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Would the right hon. Lady be kind enough to declare her union interests from her entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests? I believe there is a £10,000 donation—”

“I am sorry; I think we have made enough progress. I urge the Government to reconsider, to withdraw the Bill and to work with businesses, unions and workers to create a fair and balanced approach that prioritises the political interests—”

“I refer the hon. Member first to my earlier comments about ensuring that we do not disincentivise employers, and secondly to the flexibility that is needed for both employers and employees. Amendment 288 seeks to exclude hospitality providers and sports venues from those provisions, recognising the impracticality of ho…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for making that powerful point. Anyone who has ever looked for a job—Members in the Chamber will probably count themselves as being among the better qualified of the population looking for work—will know that most employers, of any kind, do not want to take a risk. If we make it even harder for t…”

“As the 649th woman to be elected to this House, it is an honour to contribute to this important debate. I thank the hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for her contribution and for securing the debate. I am struck that, with 650 Members of this House, we are only now in this Parliament reaching the threshold where…”

“I will do my very best to reduce the comments I was going to make, Madam Deputy Speaker. I pay tribute to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, the right hon. Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne), for his very thoughtful comments, which reflect the considerations of our Committee. B…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The time that we have next week to consider this number of amendments seems wholly inadequate. Businesses are facing ever-changing regulations and increasing tax burdens. Many have said that they were misled—duped—into believing that this Government were pro-business when their actio…”

“I want to follow up on my hon. Friend’s comment on international trade. Does he agree that the Government currently lack the capability to support businesses appropriately in international trade?”

“Specifically on quantum, in your case, Steve, but more widely in digital technology—I would encourage you all to speak to your own sectors—what contribution do you think you will be able to make to the wider growth mission and the delivery of the industrial strategy?”

“Thank you. Antony, what about from a techUK, trade body perspective?”

“Mr Morris, what about for Vodafone?”

“This question is to all of you. The Government’s No. 1 mission is to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7 by the end of their first term. How well do you think they are doing so far?”

“You could also argue that AI is the technology that sits across the different subsectors. If you took cyber versus cloud infrastructure, which are the actual sectors where you think, in this instance, that AI is going to have the most output?”