BY Justin Madders

MP for Ellesmere Port

ONCE elected to Parliament, MPs hope to be able to put previous experiences in our everyday lives to good use as we attempt to do our best for our constituents.

That is certainly the case for me now that I occupy the position of shadow employment rights and protections minister in Parliament.

After spending many years as a lawyer representing clients with employments rights concerns, I apply a degree of knowledge and expertise when dealing with legislation such as the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill which returned to the Commons this week.

In that context I have no doubt that this innocuously named minimum service bill, if enacted, will drive a coach and horses through hard-earned rights of workers up and down the land. I and my Labour MP colleagues plan to fight it every step of the way.

The bill will give ministers the power to set a minimum service level that must be delivered during strikes across six different sectors including transport, health, fire and rescue, education, nuclear and border security.

It will poison the industrial relations landscape and do nothing to quell the dissatisfaction striking workers feel. Everybody who is concerned about individual liberty and freedom should be opposed to this attack on the fundamental right to withdraw your labour. Giving employers the power to sack people who go on strike (as this bill does) could lead to nurses,teachers or doctors, all of whom are in short supply, needlessly hounded out of their job.

Labour will repeal this law when we enter government and, through our new deal for working people, we will unleash a new era of security and prosperity in the workplace.

It will be the complete opposite to the hostile and ultimately self-defeating approach that this government takes.

MANY readers will be aware of the proposal to create a so-called Hydrogen Village based on about 2,000 homes in Whitby in my constituency. There have been many legitimate questions raised and I am of the firm view that residents must have the final say on whether this project goes ahead. It is therefore beyond disappointing that Cadent, the company behind the Hydrogen Village concept, has now lodged an application with the Government for the whole of Ellesmere Port to be considered for a Hydrogen Town initiative. This is highly premature and I and the Council Leader, Louise Gittins, have written to the Government to make our concerns clear.

In my 26th January column I highlighted the tax affairs furore centred on Nadhim Zahawi MP who has been serving in the Cabinet as Conservative Party chair.

Mr Zahawi has paid a penalty to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax at a time when he was serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has handed over a sum approaching £5 million which was a combination of the amount owed to HMRC plus a penalty for not paying the sum upfront.

After concerted pressure from Opposition MPs the Prime Minister eventually called on his independent ethics adviser to investigate Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs, resulting in the MP being sacked from his Cabinet role at the weekend.

Serious questions remain, however, about exactly when Rishi Sunak learned that Mr Zahawi was being investigated by HMRC.