On the day that Chancellor George Osborne made his budget speech to the House of Commons, the government's controversial Trade Union Bill was dealt a major blow by peers in the House of Lords. By a majority of 320 votes to 172, they defeated a proposal to change the way that union members pay their dues. It was a strong show of support to a recommendation from a cross-party committee which had said that any changes to party funding should be restricted to new members only. The Lords then ended what had been a bruising session for the government, by giving its overwhelming support to two other bill ammendments. So what happens now? Is the Trade Union Bill dead in the water? Will the government now have to rip it up and start again? Silkie Cragg is the "Policy & Campaigns Support Officer" for the TUC, and Professor John Weeks is Share Radio's regular economics commentator.
