Workers' rights Lords bill blocking angers ministers

The government has vowed that there will be no more concessions on the employment rights bill and that it will force the Lords to vote on it again next week, after Conservative and cross-bench peers blocked it on Wednesday night.

- Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

Ministers and trade unions expressed fury that the bill was voted down again in the House of Lords by peers protesting against the lifting of the compensation cap for unfair dismissal, calling it "cynical wrecking tactics that risk a constitutional crisis".

The bill will return to the Commons on Monday and be back in the Lords by Tuesday, a government source said, suggesting that it would then consider further sittings to pass the bill by Christmas.

The lifting of the cap was part of a deal brokered by the government with unions and business lobby groups, which included a major concession on rights for protection against unfair dismissal.

The government agreed to workers qualifying for protection after six months, instead of the current two years, despite day-one rights being a Labour manifesto pledge. Unions agreed to this climbdown alongside the lifting of the compensation cap for unfair dismissal.