Speeches by Dearden.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for leading today’s important debate, which is based on two petitions, one calling for a reduction in the noise limit for consumer fireworks from 120 dB to 90 dB and another for limiting the sal…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his question. I am going to get to the SPS agreement, and I will reflect on his comments when I get to that part of my speech.”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point on animal welfare in the SPS agreement, which I will get to. The figures I mentioned show the strength of this sector and why smooth, predictable trade with the EU really matters. The Department for Business and Trade has been working hand in hand with the Department for Environm…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. As he knows, the negotiations are ongoing and we cannot comment on them. We are working hard to cut red tape for exporters. I will be happy to follow up with him on his specific point, and I thank him for raising that important issue. Agrifood exports to the EU remain below…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing this timely debate on meat exports to the EU and thank him for his remarks. I agree with him that our farmers and processors produce world-class beef, lamb, poultry and…”

“We are absolutely determined to get this legislation through, and I urge colleagues in the other place to pass this Bill for the reasons my right hon. Friend outlines: 1.3 million people will be entitled to statutory sick pay from as soon as April. That is significant, and it is why it is so important to get the legisl…”

“I will allow the right hon. Gentleman to listen to the reflections further on in my speech. I am not sure he entirely grasps the compensation cap proposal and our intentions.”

“I am grateful to hon. Members across the House for their contributions today and throughout the passage of the Bill. When there is a finding of unfair dismissal at tribunal, it is important that the claimant is fairly compensated for the loss they have suffered. We also believe that the cap on compensatory awards for u…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, as she always does, and I thank her for it. To conclude, we are seeking the support of the House so that we can finally secure Royal Assent and move towards implementing our long-overdue reforms to make work pay. Today’s correspondence from business representatives to the Secret…”

“I listen to the Conservatives again and again as they come to the Chamber—they have done it again today—and talk down what was a clear manifesto commitment of this Bill.”

“I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend’s comments. We believe that the current compensatory award cap also creates a systemic incentive for unfair dismissal claimants to construct more complex cases, which could take longer for a tribunal to handle. By removing the compensatory award cap for unfair dismissal claims…”

“An economic assessment will be published, as is standard practice.”

“Our proposal would remove the cap of 52 weeks’ gross pay or £118,223. It is important to reflect that, in practice, few awards get anywhere close to the cap. The median average award for unfair dismissal in 2023-24 was £6,746. Employment tribunals will continue to calculate compensatory awards to reflect the losses tha…”

“That is why our motion today disagrees with the Lords amendments and insists on our amendments from the previous round of ping-pong, which deliver on the agreement made by trade unions and business representative organisations.”

“If hon. Members allow me to make some progress, I will get to the background and reasoning for the compensation cap. Continued delay to the Bill will put implementation at risk, which creates insecurity and uncertainty for workers and employers alike. I hope the other place acknowledges the importance of this and will …”

“I beg to move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in their amendment 120N to Commons amendment 120G and their amendments 120P to 120S to Commons amendment 120H. I am returning for the fourth time to the consideration of Lords amendments to the Employment Rights Bill. The Bill will bring employment rights legislat…”

“We absolutely recognise the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK, including the hon. Member’s constituency. With the temporary pandemic business rates relief coming to an end and the first independent revaluation since the pandemic taking effect next April…”

“Hospitality businesses, including those in Glastonbury and Somerton, are vital to our communities and city centres. We have introduced permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually and benefiting over 750,000 propertie…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that, and appreciate his work on and commitment to this matter. Our approach will require all platforms that facilitate the resale of tickets—including social media platforms—to ensure that the price cap is adhered to on their sites. If platforms fail to uphold the cap, our enforcers …”

“For too long, fans have been at the mercy of greedy touts charging rip-off prices on the ticket resale market. That is why the Government have announced plans to make it illegal to resell a live events ticket for a profit. I know that my hon. Friend has campaigned for that over the years, for which I thank him. There w…”