Mark Tarran

“It's sort of fashionable, actually. All the actors do it. Even Redgrave.”

It’s a matter for the party whether a vote is whipped. Governments have given MPs free votes on some govt bills in the past.

The “rule” is a non-binding convention (the Salisbury convention). The manifesto had promised pre-legislative consultation (which would have addressed how probationary periods would work with day 1 unfair dismissal rights), but it never happened. So a compromise was reached.

As someone who grew up in Oxfordshire in the 70s 80s and 90s, cars were not then (and are not now) the easiest way to get into Oxford. Congestion was terrible and we took the bus or used one of the cheap and convenient park and ride schemes.

Minor bugbear of mine when people call House of Lords “undemocratic” for holding up Commons legislation. It is the will of the Commons, as expressed in the Parliament Acts, that HoL has power to revise and delay but not prevent HoC legislation. That they use this power is part of our democracy.

That’s a nice little arm you have there. It would be a shame if someone broke it.

That’s not so much a “law” as an absence of law, from a bygone colonial era. These days international law is based on an underlying respect for sovereignty, and alliances between states for, among other things, mutual defence against aggressors.

Not just attacking the victim but proffering a narrative that the video evidence shows cannot possibly have even a grain of truth.

Even if this agent is ultimately hung out to dry for having acted contrary to his “training”, the deed is done, the fear of death is instilled, the populace is further subdued. A person with a bullet in their head can take no solace from being legally in the right.

Guessing wrong must now become an act of defiance, a moral imperative in the face of the madness that now prevails.

I am convinced this is Roger’s attempt to give you just enough hope to suck you back in to his twisted game, ready for the sucker punch. I bet it’s not even going to be Jesus or even St Nick on the 24th, it’ll be a duck-billed platypus in a pudding basin or some such.

This may look like a victory but in truth it shows Roger’s Machiavellian nature. You had a real moment of personal growth yesterday and I think I speak for all of us on this journey when I say we were proud of you. But this last minute switch to overtly Christmassy imagery risks undoing all of that.

Heartbreaking. I’m not sure any of us can survive another week of this.

I ended up watching the debate on a few minutes delay by the end as my feed kept buffering! So I missed the actual climax.

I’m not sure what that impact assessment is supposed to do though. It’s not the same as a consultation. And if it suggests removing the cap might be a bad idea, will they just not bring that bit into force? I very much doubt that’s the plan but I might be wrong

Lord Sharpe withdrew his amendment based on government assurance of an impact assessment prior to commencement.

Well it looks like it’s all over. Bill has finally passed!

Lord Fox also doesn’t want to derail the bill. Looks like Lib Dem support has switched to the government.

Lord Vaux (who previously was trenchantly against the gov in this) says he is now going to “respect the will of the elected chamber” even though he is unhappy.

Lord Pannick quoting from yesterday’s business letter saying “now is the time to pass the bill”.

Raises the spectre of “multimillion pound payouts” to failed water bosses among others.

Pulling no punches over accusing the government of acting “unconstitutionally” in introducing this new measure at ping pong, as well as “misrepresenting” to the House the extent of the roundtable agreement on the cap.

Lord Sharpe pushing his amendment to abolish 52 week cap and consult on the 118k cash cap.

Settling down to listen to the Lords pinging the Employment Rights pong again.

And of course they can still get rid of the 52 weeks pay cap now, by statutory instrument, with the blessing of business leaders, which will mean far more for most ordinary workers than the overall cash cap.

I can see why they felt the need to come out of the roundtable negotiations with a “win” but I think that getting this enormous bill passed with hardly any losses in terms of policy goals is a massive win in itself, without the complication of the cap, which could in any event be addressed later.

We can go on all day, which just goes to show how much there is to consult about if the government would actually take that approach. It’s been good to engage with you on this and to try and understand the government position.

Bosses will continue to price in likely awards, because in most cases loss of earnings is small. Median UD awards are less than 7k. That won’t change.

Also worth remembering that consultation before legislating on employment rights was also a manifesto commitment.

Which is why proper consultation should be undertaken before legislating.