A Conservative MP has accused a commercial cleaning company of dismissing two employees because they are British. Henry Smith, the MP for Crawley, raised the case in the House of Commons, claiming that Jani-King, based in Kingston-upon-Thames, fired the workers for being from the UK.
Speaking under parliamentary privilege, which protects MPs from legal action for statements made in the Commons, Mr Smith said he had been dealing with a case on behalf of two constituents who were dismissed from their job with Jani-King 'allegedly for being British'. He did not name the individuals or provide further details.
Jani-King responded by stating that the two employees had been dismissed following standard employment procedures, and stressed that their dismissal was not related to ethnicity. The firm, which has over 1,200 staff in the UK, said it is an equal opportunities employer.
Leader of the House Sir George Young urged Mr Smith to contact the appropriate authorities if anything illegal had taken place. He also said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to see whether anything irregular had occurred.
