Last night, after a series of votes the Scotland Bill which delivers more powers to the Scottish Parliament as agreed after the Scottish Independence Referendum, cleared all its stages in the House of Commons and now passes for consideration to the House of Lords. Today it is the final stages of the Trade Union Bill.
Not surprisingly hundreds of Trade Union members have contacted me urging me to oppose the Bill. Most just sending me a standard email generated by their Union. The vast majority of Trade Union members in Bury never mind non-Trade Union members have not contacted me. I support the Bill as I believe the vast majority of residents in Bury Ramsbottom and Tottington would support the proposals:
• A 50% turn-out threshold for all ballots for industrial action;
• A 40% support threshold for important public services such the fire, health, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning sectors, and the Border Force.
• A 4-month limit to the validity of strike ballot mandates, after which the mandate expires.
• A Requirement that ballot papers include the details of the dispute, what type of industrial action is proposed, and the time period for the action to take place. This will allow union members to make informed decisions about what they are voting for or against.
David Nuttall 
‘I support the Bill as I believe the vast majority of residents in Bury Ramsbottom and Tottington would support the proposals’
David you said you had 100’s of emails saying that your constituents were concerned about the bill. On the balance of fairness can you post the amount of emails you had in support of the bill from constituents.
You also state as above the ‘Vast majority’ would be in support. Can I ask you to post the evidence of this whether this was done through questionnaire or online polls etc…. As one of your constituents I have never received or been asked my opinion.
If you take in to consideration the vast majority of support from your constituents can you also provide the evidence that fox hunting is what your constituents want or that they oppose gay marriage or indeed the death penalty as these are things that show on your voting record that you have voted for.
Thanks in advance. Much appreciated
Hi,
Thank you for your comment. You are quite right, I do not recall having had any emails supporting this Bill. There again it is a rare occasion indeed when anyone emails me to say they support a Bill. I expected far more emails considering the number of trade unionists there are. I do not have any evidence to back up my opinion. It is my opinion and, of course, as you suggest I could be wrong. It was a clear commitment in the manifesto so I guess people were not that surprised when it was implemented.
As for same-sex marriage, fox hunting and the death penalty firstly these are all free vote issues and secondly I can not recall we have had a vote on restoring the death penalty.
David