WORKERS should be able to get new rights to find out about the future of their firms, Pendle MP Gordon Prentice said today.

He is backing a new Bill introduced by a fellow Labour MP to give employees in companies with more than 50 staff the right to be consulted on the big issues that affect them.

The proposal, introduced at a Private Members' Bill today by Luton North's Kelvin Hopkins, would require employers to inform and consult the workforce on the "situation, structure and reasonably foreseeable developments relating to employment within the undertaking including potential redundancy and measures such as training and skill development."

Although the Bill stands little chance of becoming law, the MPs hope it may influence future government legislation.