Employment fees ruling - Govt has wasted workers' taxes trying to undermine workers' rights

The Liberal Democrats have welcomed a Supreme Court ruling that employment tribunal fees are unlawful, and accused the government of "wasting workers' taxes in an attempt to undermine workers' rights." The party called for employment tribunal fees to be scrapped in its manifesto for the 2017 General Election. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Jo Swinson commented: "This is a landmark victory for workers and for access to justice. "The government should be ashamed that it fought this case all the way to the Supreme Court. Ministers have wasted workers' taxes in an attempt to undermine workers' rights. "The evidence has been mounting for years that employees, including many women facing discrimination at work, have been denied access to justice because of these exorbitant fees. "The Conservatives repeatedly blocked my requests for action to redress this in Coalition, and then stuck their heads in the sand when official research on pregnancy discrimination showed how much tribunal fees are a problem. "The government needs to scrap these unfair fees across the board as a matter of urgency."