Downing Street has declared there will be no further concessions on the employment rights bill, vowing to force a vote in the House of Lords next week after Conservative and cross-bench peers blocked the legislation. The bill was defeated on Wednesday night amid protests over plans to lift the compensation cap for unfair dismissal.
Ministers and trade unions condemned the move as “cynical wrecking tactics that risk a constitutional crisis”. The bill will return to the House of Commons on Monday and then back to the Lords by Tuesday, with the government aiming to pass it before Christmas. A government source insisted: “A deal’s a deal”, warning that continued blocking would anger business leaders who had agreed to the compromise.
The employment rights minister, Kate Dearden, urged peers to back the bill, stating: “We want to deliver for millions of people across this country who voted for us… so we can extend statutory sick pay, day-one paternity leave, and give the Fair Work Agency enforcement powers.” She called on the Lords to “get behind this bill”.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of the union Prospect, said the Lords amendment undermined a painstaking compromise: “The behaviour of the House of Lords can no longer be seen as constructive scrutiny and increasingly looks like cynical wrecking tactics… Further delay is in nobody’s interests.”
The deal lifted the compensation cap for unfair dismissal in exchange for a Labour manifesto climbdown: workers will qualify for protection after six months, rather than the current two years. A union source suggested the government should consider using the Parliament Act if peers persist, which could restore the original day-one rights and make the bill worse for businesses.
