Member

I am trying to take what the Government want to do at face value, but I think the Bill contains many flaws, which have been identified by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) and several other Conservative Members. There are significant gaps. The right hon. Member for Sheffield Heeley (Louise Haigh), among others, referred to non-disclosure agreements, and I thought that what she said illustrated some of the flaws in the provisions relating to psychological and emotional abuse. She gave the example of an incident involving someone who had been suffering at work and was made to apologise to the colleagues who had witnessed the incident, and I think that that should be dug into a bit. Why would that person have to apologise? The colleagues must have complained that the incident had been distressing for them. The words “psychological and emotional abuse” could have unforeseen consequences —although that is not to say that I do not care. The hon. Member for Corby and East Northamptonshire (Lee Barron) said many things with which I could agree, but I ask Members please not to say that the Conservatives do not care about abuse in the workplace.