Well, if I remarked in the debates on the two previous groups of amendments that the Tories just don’t get it, never has that been more true than in respect of these amendments on balloting. Maybe some of the Welsh Conservatives were brought up influenced by the Thatcher philosophy surrounding trade unions. You remember those nasty trade unions dominated by the unrepresentative barons whose only aim in life was to call out their members on strike for no good reason at the drop of a hat, all with a total disregard to the views of their members. Well, let me tell the Tories something that might interest them. Trade unions are simply organisations made up of workers coming together to protect their interests at work. And something else that might interest Janet Finch-Saunders is that those workers are also taxpayers. So, when the Tories attack trade unions, they are not attacking the union barons, they’re attacking ordinary working people who are doing nothing more than coming together in common cause.

Of course, trade unions are also amongst the most democratic organisations in the country. Let’s just look at how they elect their leaders. Trade union general secretaries are elected for set periods by one-member-one-vote ballots amongst their entire membership. And on the issues central to this amendment, balloting on industrial action involves every member of the union affected.

Amongst the uninformed Tory ranks, there is, of course, a myth perpetuated that trade unions actively seek to take their members out on strike. But it’s a complete fantasy to suggest that trade unions welcome calling strike action. I can tell you absolutely, from all my years, both as a lay activist and a full-time trade union officer, that I and other trade union colleagues would consider a failure if we ever had to resort to calling a formal industrial action ballot—a failure because all the work we did, day in and day out, working with employers to resolve difficulties, as outlined earlier, would not have worked. Industrial action is always, always the last resort.

Let’s then talk about the ballots themselves. If this amendment is passed, it would put in place a regime of ballot thresholds that don’t apply in any other democratic situation that I’m aware of anywhere in the UK outside of the Westminster Government’s Trade Union Act. And I challenge the proposer of this amendment to identify one.