Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to set up an independent commission in a bid to end the row over the employment rights of 1.6m agency workers.

The one-off commission would bring together the TUC, which is campaigning to give agency workers equal rights with permanent employees and the Confederation of British Industry which is resisting the calls saying they would put jobs at risk.

The draft European Agency Workers Directive, which would have granted equal rights for agency workers, was blocked in the European Parliament by Brown last year, but backbench Labour MP Andrew Miller has launched a Private Members Bill in an attempt to reinforce the equal treatment of temporary staff.

Trade unions and an army of senior Labour backbenchers insist the government must act against the 'casualisation' of the workforce and have been lobbying the government to support the Bill.

TUC general secretary Brendon Barber told MPs: "The principal at the heart of this Bill is equal treatment for agency workers. We were hoping we would see that ingrained in law through an EU directive, but it is with deep regret that the major obstacle is the stance taken by our own government.

"The government claims that agency work is a stepladder to better things, but it's not a ladder — it's a revolving door involving the worst kinds of exploitation."

However, John Cridland, the CBI's director general, argued that union attempts to categorise all temporary workers as "vulnerable" simply "does not wash".

He said temps already have a wide range of employment rights and urged MPs to resist union calls to support the bill, which would not help the "truly vulnerable" but put perfectly good jobs at risk.

"There is a world of difference between the million or so people who choose to take on work to fit in with their responsibilities or as a step towards a permanent job and those denied their rights by a rogue employer."

Speaking ahead of the second reading of Miller's Bill in Parliament on Friday [22 February], Tom Hadley, the REC's director of external relations, described the debate as "heavily politicised".

He continued: "The government has so far remained strong, but things can change.

"The fact that we have got 400 recruitment champions writing to their MPs and taking an active role is a positive, and a good reflection of how mobilised and politically engaged recruiters can be."

He welcomed the committee saying it gave the industry an opportunity to air its concerns and arguments in more detail.