New clause 8 - Exclusion or expulsion from
Employment Relations Bill
10:15 am
Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon, Conservative)
There is an assumption that entryism will not lead to racist activity within unions becoming the mainstay, but I give the example of a textile business in the east midlands in the mid-1970s that reclassified its Asian workers as machine workers rather than cleaners. The unions rejected it on the basis of race and went on strike for months. There was clear evidence of entryism by the National Front, which organised the strike.
I have listened to the debate with great concern. I assumed that in a democratic, freedom-loving country such as ours such things do not happen, but they have happened and do happen. I disagree with people who take the view that we should just ignore racists, or put the matter under the table and not give it oxygen. That is the wrong approach. We must confront these things and deal with them. There is nothing in the new clause that will stop intimidation or racism per se. If there were, we could have a sensible conversation about it.