We reported on Monday that Conservative MEPs were battling to save Britain's opt-out from the Working Time Directive.
MEPs have voted to scrap the opt-out. There will now be a period of conciliation between the parliament and the Council of Ministers, which currently supports the opt-out. Philip Bushill-Matthews, the Tory employment spokesman, comments:
"Socialist MEPs have won the batlle today, but they must not be allowed to win the war.
The British government must dig in and defend the opt-out. 15 EU nations now take advantage of the flexibility provided by the opt-out and none of them should back down.
It should never be the place of the European Parliament to tell people they cannot work - particularly during a downturn. Scrapping our Working Time opt-out is even more nonsensical in today's economic climate than ever before.
This is a double failure of Gordon Brown. Not only has he failed to control his MEPs, but he also naively signed up to a package deal that saw Britain give ground on the Agency Workers Directive in exchange for our Working Time opt-out. His folly was to assume the Left in the European Parliament would not sabotage the deal. British businesses have been given two damaging pieces of employment legislation for the price of one."
Once again I feel bound to pose the following question. Would it really be so terrible if Gordon Brown announced that the UK will act unilaterally? The last thing we need at this time is the Working Time Directive.
I believe that the European Union would soon learn to get over it if the Prime Minister said that this was non-negotiable.
Tom Greeves
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 in European Parliament (general), Philip Bushell-Matthews, Working Time Directive | Permalink | Comments (15)
Martin Callanan, MEP for the North East, has written elsewhere on ConservativeHome about the Working Time Directive today. His colleague Philip Bushill-Matthews, Conservative employment spokesman in the European Parliament, has issued a press release.
Labour MEPs oppose the UK's opt-out from the Directive. On Wednesday MEPs will vote on whether to scrap the opt-out. Doing so would require at least 393 MEPs to vote for its abolition. Mr Bushill-Matthews comments in advance of a debate this evening:
"Britain needs the opt-out more than ever.
We will be working up to the last minute to win support for workers' rights to choose their hours, rather than having them dictated by socialists who claim to represent them.
Labour MEPs must now back British businesses and workers, who are struggling to make ends meet. Many people choose to work longer hours to provide a better life for themselves and their families, and politicians should be helping them rather than getting in the way.
Gordon Brown must read his MEPs the riot act this week - before it is too late."
It may seem counter-intuitive or even slippery for Mr Bushill-Matthews to couch his position as one supportive of workers' rights. But whilst the work/life balance matters hugely, he is right that restrictions imposed from above (and elsewhere, as it's an EU Directive) are not helpful. This is all the more important in the current economic climate.
Tom Greeves
Monday, December 15, 2008 in European Parliament (general), Martin Callanan MEP, Philip Bushell-Matthews, Working Time Directive | Permalink | Comments (3)
And the winner of the Conservative awayday quiz was...
20 Sep 2013 10:42:23 | Comments (0)Today's Tory MPs awayday will be told that the 40/40 strategy is now a 50/40 strategy
19 Sep 2013 06:10:30 | Comments (0)New edition Loyalty Boris hits the shelves
18 Sep 2013 14:28:51 | Comments (0)Lorraine Fullbrook announces she is standing down as MP for Ribble South at the next election
14 Sep 2013 12:56:56 | Comments (0)Grant Shapps writes to the UN Secretary-General in protest at biased Housing investigator
12 Sep 2013 00:05:07 | Comments (0)Candidate applications open for five more seats
6 Sep 2013 15:57:35 | Comments (0)Sajid Javid says he’d “embrace the opportunities” that leaving the European Union would bring
6 Sep 2013 13:15:39 | Comments (0)We need more social entrepreneurs as Tory MPs: Toby Young must do his duty
5 Sep 2013 16:23:54 | Comments (0)Reshuffle speculation, what reshuffle speculation?
1 Sep 2013 12:24:10 | Comments (0)Who's to blame? Cameron, the Whips, or both?
30 Aug 2013 09:04:08 | Comments (0)©2013 Conservative Home, All rights reserved