Lord Empey (UUP)

My Lords, I hope this Bill does not turn into a Punch and Judy show between employers on one side and organisations and trade unions on the other, because it obviously has a number of meritorious proposals. However, the forensic introduction to the amendment by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, illustrates that this piece of legislation is a work in progress. I understand why the Government deem it so important, but they have to concede that a lot of it is being done on the hoof, which is undermining the Government’s position. I had the privilege of being Employment Minister in Belfast for three and a half years, and I worked very closely with business and trade unions during that period. The last piece of legislation I did had the racy title—I am sure the Minister would be very happy to adopt it—of the Employment (No. 2) Bill. It is the sort of thing that lets the blood course through your veins. But the one area where we have failed as a country for years and years is skills. We talk about it, we have apprenticeship models, we have this, that and the other, yet we still have not solved the problem. We got rid of the old-style tecs, colleges and so on, and we have been stuck in a rut ever since. It is obvious that there have been abuses and insecurity, and there is no point in trying to deny that; I listened carefully to what the noble Lord, Lord Monks, had to say. However, there is something that I feel a bit concerned about. We live in a world where, by and large, the major trade unions operate with large employers, whether it is the public sector or big organisations, but the bulk of the industry—the bulk of the growth in employment and everything else—comes from small businesses and micro businesses, and they do not have the capacity or the risk-taking capability in how and when they employ people. It strikes me that there is a risk of issues creeping into what we are trying to do in this country that could have the unintended consequence of making it less likely for people to employ individuals. We have to look at the international situation. We cannot ignore what is going on. There is a revolution taking place that is having a negative effect. We also have the employer national insurance contribution. We cannot ignore that either; it is a big deal.