Skip to main content

Dismissal: Politics

Question for Department for Business and Trade

UIN 7673, tabled on 19 December 2023

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that workers are not dismissed for their legal political opinions.

Answered on

12 January 2024

The UK has a longstanding tradition of ensuring individuals’ rights and liberties are protected. The right to freedom of expression is protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is given further effect domestically by the Human Rights Act 1998.

Employees who are dismissed and consider that their dismissal was unfair can complain to an employment tribunal, generally subject to a qualifying period of 2-years' continuous service.