London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Anger as ministers block ‘fire and rehire’ bill in Commons

Anger as ministers block ‘fire and rehire’ bill in Commons

Opposition and unions say government is siding with bad bosses by scuppering proposed legislation
Ministers have scuppered a Commons bill that would have stopped the practice of companies firing staff and then rehiring them on worse pay and conditions, saying that while they opposed such actions, legislation was the wrong way to respond.

The decision prompted anger from opposition parties and unions, with the TUC saying the government had “chosen to side with bad bosses”.

The junior business minister, Paul Scully, spoke for more than 40 minutes in the chamber, ensuring that the private member’s bill ran out of time and would not progress beyond its second reading.

Earlier in the session, Barry Gardiner, the Labour MP behind the bill, forced a vote that, if passed, would have prevented the government tactics. However, vote was defeated by 251 votes to 188.

The debate follows increasing concern over so-called “fire and rehire” tactics, as used by companies such as British Gas, which dismissed hundreds of engineers earlier this year who had refused to accept a pay cut and longer, more antisocial hours. Others accepted jobs on the new terms.

While the government has condemned such tactics, it argues that companies in serious financial difficulty must have the option of offering staff new jobs, if the alternative is closure. However, an analysis earlier this year found that nearly 70% of firms engaging in the practice were making a profit.

Introducing the bill, Gardiner stressed that it did not completely ban fire and rehire, as this could be necessary to prevent a company collapsing, but “puts on a statutory footing the procedure that decent employers already follow”.

The Brent North MP said: “It encourages both employers and workers to reach the best outcome and discourages bad employers from threatening fire-and-rehire, where there is not a legitimate threat to the business that demands it.”

In his speech, Scully stressed that he did not disagree with the intent of the bill, just whether it was the best means to achieve it. “The unambiguous message is that bully-boy tactics of fire-and-rehire, for use as a negotiating tactic, is absolutely inappropriate,” he said. “However, I do not believe that this bill as it stands – even if it’s amended, as I do not believe we need that primary legislation to achieve its ends – will actually have the effect.

“What we need to do is make sure that we can address these situations. We’ll legislate if we need to, but we’ll do it as a last resort, not as a first resort.”

But Gardiner said the decision to whip Conservative MPs to oppose the bill and then talk it out was “cowardly”. He said: “In politics, it’s rare to find something that absolutely everyone agrees on … All the way from Len McCluskey to the prime minister himself, everyone agrees fire and rehire is wrong. So why is the government determined to block this bill?”

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “The government has chosen to side with bad bosses by failing to take action to tackle fire and rehire today. It’s a national scandal. Even the prime minister calls the practice unacceptable.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
×