Thank you to all those who have continued to contact me about the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Considering the number of emails we have had on this subject since I first addressed it, I felt it was necessary to re-post my response to the Bill.

I oppose the Bill because it threatens teachers and nurses with the sack during a staffing crisis, attacks the fundamental freedoms of working people and does nothing to resolve the underlying problems affecting our services.

Working people are facing the largest fall in living standards in a generation, with bills skyrocketing and wages unable to keep up. It is in this context that we have seen the largest strike disruption in decades, with rail workers, ambulance workers and nurses taking unprecedented industrial action. I believe it is deeply worrying that rather than seek practical solutions to these issues, the Government has instead sought to push through a law giving Ministers powers to order compulsory “work notices” to be issued to striking workers, who could then be sacked for going on strike.

I believe this Bill is wrong in principle. The right to strike is a fundamental one in our society, yet the Bill will effectively withdraw that right from hundreds of thousands of workers.

I also believe the Bill is unnecessary. While the Government argues that it is seeking to ensure public safety, the Bill does not mention safety once. And last autumn the Government itself argued that minimum service levels were not needed for the emergency services due to existing regulations and voluntary arrangements. We all want minimum standards in essential services, but it is Government Ministers who are failing to provide them.

Finally, I believe the Bill is unworkable. Indeed, the Government’s own impact assessment on minimum service levels for transport warned that the plans could lead to more strikes and staff shortages.

As you know, the House of Lords amended the Bill to remove the power to sack workers for taking strike action, to remove the requirement that unions take “reasonable steps” to make their members go to work on a strike day, to force the Government to consult on and publish impact assessments before implementing the new law and to exempt Scotland and Wales from the Bill. I supported these amendments when the Bill returned to the House of Commons. Unfortunately, they were voted down by Government MPs. Nevertheless, I can assure you that I will continue to support efforts to oppose the Bill as a whole and to repeal it once passed.

Thank you once again to all those who have contacted me.