L

Lord Londesborough (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 10 December 2025

Debate

Employment Rights Bill

Contribution

My Lords, I am going to speak, in mercifully brief terms, about SMEs, but I will spare noble Lords the history of SMEs in the UK from 1910 to 2026. My point, in relation to Motions B and B1, is that lifting the cap on unfair dismissal without warning and at this very late stage fundamentally undermines the claims of careful consultation with employers. My email inbox, like those of many others in this place, is awash with anger and indignation from SMEs in particular. The question they keep asking is: how can we trust this Government, coming as this does after punitive and disproportionate hits on employers’ national insurance contributions and inflation-busting increases in the minimum wage, who are sneaking in this clause on uncapped compensation? SMEs will not be persuaded by the data we have heard in this debate on medians and modes. Frankly, we are creating yet more uncertainty, piling up the risks of employing new staff and fuelling unemployment that much further. It is anti-entrepreneurial, anti-enterprise and, I fear, a job destroyer. In my view, it has no place in a free, growth-driven economy.

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