07/03/2017 Ten Minute Rule Bill

MrSpeaker, I beg to move that legal be given to bring in a bill to make

provision for a national public holiday marking the Queen's Saphire

Jubilee in June this year and to establish a framework to ensure that

the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and Crown dependencies

appropriately commemorate this occasion and for connected purposes.

On 6th February this year marked the 65th anniversary of Her Majesty the

Queen's accession to the throne. This is a truly remarkable milestone

for our longest serving monarch in the history of our proud nation and

peoples. Her Majesty the Queen's sapphire Jubilee must surely be a

cause of great celebration across the British Isles. In all corners of

the kingdom, and indeed throughout Her Majesty's overseas territories,

Crown dependencies, her other realms and across the Commonwealth of

nations. As you will know, MrSpeaker, during Her Majesty's

reign there have been three Royal Jubilees, the Silver Jubilee of

1977, the Golden Jubilee of 2002, and the Diamond Jubilee of 2012. In

each case the British people paid tribute to Her Majesty for her

service to the nation with spectacular events in Counties,

cities, towns and villages throughout these Islands. Including

parades, street parties, Church services, fetes, school Assemblies,

and the lighting of beacons up and down the land.

National celebrations also took place, usually in June, with

services of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, combined with

military parades throughout the streets of London, and for the

Diamond Jubilee a flotilla along the River Thames. Her Majesty and the

Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal family have appeared on

the balcony of Buckingham Palace as the spectacle of a fly pass by the

Royal air force, the red arrows and in the case of the golden jubilee,

Concorde flew overhead. Millions of people filled the streets of London,

gathering in the Mall to celebrate the Queen, singing and dancing. On

each occasion the nation's spirits were lifted. Come rain or shine, the

people rose to the occasion the length and breadth of the nation.

The silver, golden and diamond jubilee is brought the country

together in nationwide displays of affection for the Queen and the

Sapphire Jubilee must surely do so again this year. It will remind us

of our rich heritage, our cultural identity as part of a great British

family, sharing a union of the crowns, unbroken since 1603. Whether

we consider ourselves to be English, Scottish, Ulstermen, Irish, Welsh,

Manx, Jersey men, Guernsey men, from the Gibraltar, from Bermuda or

whichever identity within the British family we happened to call

our own, the celebration of the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee must be a

cause that brings each and every one of us together in honour of Queen

and country. Mr Speaker, just look around the world today and see

politicians as presidents. Prime ministers and leaders of nations who

come and go, but here in the United Kingdom how fortunate we are to have

such a dedicated mutual head of state as a constitutional monarch,

who defends our laws and upholds our democracy and is the guardian of our

Constitution, providing the foundations for stable and

accountable government. Just as previous jubilees have been

celebrated far and wide, it must surely be right that the Sapphire

Jubilee is as well. In fact, I say to this House that Her Majesty's

Sapphire Jubilee should be the greatest jubilee of all as no other

monarch has reached 65 years on the throne. And it is inconceivable that

any future king or queen will reach such an achievement for years to

come. We can't let the year passed without a celebration befitting the

occasion, saluting Her Majesty for all she has done for our nation and

the wider commonwealth, but also to prove to ourselves once again that

what unites our country and people is much greater than what divides

us. Her Majesty the Queen is undoubtedly the most uniting figure

of our nation. She is the fundamental component of our common

British identity. As a people we shared beliefs, principles and

obligations and so let us cherish our common heritage and in so doing

ensure our common destiny. It is my fervent belief that the Queen

exemplifies all that is great and good about our nation and represents

the continuity that our forebears did so much to hand to us. Most

especially the freedom of our island home that we today cherish so much.

As our Queen and sovereign, Her Majesty brings steadfastness and

stability to our Constitution, our parliamentary democracy and

throughout our society. The importance of this dead fastness

cannot be understated. Her Majesty is the single greatest flag bearer

of stability and continuity. And so the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee must be

a time for everyone to celebrate this great milestone in the history

of our island people. Whether from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland

or Wales, the Crown dependencies, the Jersey and Guernsey Islands,

overseas, people of British ancestry scattered across the globe, the

United kingdom taking believed will encourage Her Majesty's other rams

to celebrate the Sapphire Jubilee. After all, the Queen is Queen of

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Canada, grenade, Jamaica,

New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, said Lucio, Saint Vincent, the Solomon

Islands. Our friends in these nations must also have the chance to

celebrate as the Sapphire Jubilee is as much their celebration as it is

the British are else. All the people of the United Kingdom, Northern

Ireland, overseas territories and dependencies should mark the

occasion of the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee with a celebration that such

a significant landmark deserves. It will give councils the authority to

make plans now for local celebrations. Providing the street

parties, carnivals and special events to take place without the

tiresome bureaucracy that can get in the way. One weekend in June could

be designated Sapphire Jubilee weekend with an additional bank

holiday immediately afterwards that could be a national day for a

thanksgiving service. The weekend of Trooping the Colour might also be an

option for the official Sapphire Jubilee celebrations. As the first

ever Sapphire Jubilee of a reigning British monarch, we cannot allow

this great occasion to go on celebrated. On the contrary, Mr

Speaker, Her Majesty's 65th anniversary as our sovereign and

head of state must be an opportunity to unite all British people,

together with those of other nationalities who have made Britain

the home and who might also want to celebrate with pride and patriotism.

And so in presenting this bill today my hope is that it will draw

attention to this highly significant event. Time may be short to arrange

celebrations for June, but I believe the spirit of our nation will

inspire the people to make Her Majesty's -- Her Majesty the Queen's

Sapphire Jubilee a spectacular occasion that will be remembered for

years to come and we will be able to demonstrate our heartfelt thanks to

Her Majesty for what she has done. I commend this bill to the House. The

question is that the honourable member has lead to bring in the

bill. Whilst I have no objection whatsoever to the people of the

United Kingdom and wider celebrating the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee, I do

feel that as with most proposals, the devil is in the detail and that

is why I am forced is big against this bill. I would like to press for

greater detail and that we may learn from the problems created for UK

workers from the most recent extra public holidays which were held on

April 29 2011 to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate

Middleton and on June the 5th 2012 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond

Jubilee. On both those occasions I was working for the NHS and I was

also an elected workplace trade union rapped for Unite. Not everyone

in the NHS was able to ensure the public holidays. Essential public

services still have to be provided many staff were required to remain

in work on those days in order to provide and urgent care. Problems

arose with how these staff were to be remunerated because NHS terms and

conditions under a gender -- under agenda for change says that staff

are entitled to eight bank holidays and these extra bank holidays

counted as nine. My NHS boss refused to pay staff working on those days

at the bank holiday rate and paid them at the normal rate. I tried to

negotiate a better rate of pay, but I came up against a blanket refusal

from management to recognise these days as bank holidays and therefore

not qualifying for the high rate of pay. Before the Diamond Jubilee

celebrations are replied to -- I wrote to David Cameron. His reply

was unhelpful. We were left with a situation where hard-working

dedicated NHS staff who gave up their days off to provide a service

were not adequately remunerated. I don't want to see this happen again

with this new build. Unite revealed that some NHS trusts treated the

Diamond Jubilee as a normal working day. Unite had even written to the

Queen of behalf of its 100,000 members in the health service on

this issue, but alas, to no avail. Additionally in April 2011, prior to

the royal wedding, the Daily Mail reported that more than a tenth of

employers said that they would not be giving the workers are paid day

off, according to a poll by the chartered Institute of payroll

professionals. Employment law experts said that workers were the

victims of a lottery which depended entirely upon the wording in the

contract. For example, if the contract states that the employee is

entitled to 28 days holiday including all back and public

holidays, the worker will be entitled to paid time off. However

if the contract stated the worker was in total to 28 days holidays

including eight bank and public holidays that would not infer the

right to be off because the Royal wedding constitutes a nine bank

holiday. -- ninth bank holiday. On that day in 2011 or 163 Debenhams

stores were open but the staff did not achieve extra pay. Conversely,

Tesco's stores said that people who worked the bank holiday would be

paid up to three times the normal rate. Following the royal wedding

holiday where some employers fail to give the day off, the TUC rate to

this government to add a provision to holiday entitlement to take

account of any special bank or public holidays, but sadly no such

provision was made. And with that in mind, one way to avoid this

situation arising every time that an extra public holiday is announced

would be to increase the number of bank holidays from eight up to nine

per year, with the extra bank holiday to be used to celebrate a

significant occasion that year, and that occasion to be determined by

Parliament. As I have stated when I rose to speak, I think it is right

that we should celebrate the Queen's record of an amazing 65 years of

long service, but what I'm asking for is more clarity to enable

employers and employees to reach a better understanding of the

practicalities of arranging an extra public holiday. Most importantly on

rates of remuneration for those emergency workers who give up their

time so that others may enjoy the day off and the celebrations. I will

end by asking the questions. Will this bill specify how this holiday

should be characterised and what rates are paid those who have to

work on the date should receive? How will the bill ensure that all

employers participate and give staff the day off without resorting to the

use of loopholes? And will the government now take heed of the TUC

recommendation that provision should now be made to workers was not

holiday entitlement to take account of additional public holidays? Thank

you. The question is that the honourable member have leave to

bring in the bill. I think the ayes have it. Who will prepare and bring

in the bill? Sir Julian Brazier, Mr Douglas Carswell, Tom Elliott,

Michael Gove, Kate Hoey, Norman Lamb, Angus Brendan McNeill, Albert

Owen, Gavin Robinson, Michael Tomlinson and myself, sir.

I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the order

paper. My Lords, according to the latest data from the office for

national statistics, income inequality in the UK is at its

lowest level since 1986. The key to economic success and to reducing

inequality is to improve activity which determines living standards in

the long run, that's why the Government has established a

national productivity investment fund and published a Green Paper on

industrial strategy highlighting