Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights Bill is set to bolster unions, harm jobs and cripple growth, employers have warned, in a fresh setback for Labour’s attempt at hauling Britain’s economy upwards.
UK firms say the Government has taken an “irreversible” step towards a more business-hostile Britain through fresh changes to the Employment Rights Bill – which include extending a ban on zero-hours contracts to cover agency workers and giving a new enforcement body more powers.
They also warned that Ministers had turned down almost all of their pleas to loosen the rules – and have said Labour’s Bill will push businesses into a “thicket of regulation” which would “undermine the Government’s own push for growth”.
Under Rayner’s Bill, union members will now have to pay into political funds – which contribute millions of pounds to Labour – unless they opt out in writing.
Alongside that, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said that unions would no longer have to write to members every 10 years to check that they were still comfortable donating.
The Bill includes a slew of more measures, too, including the establishment of the Fair Work Agency – which will enforce employee rights and fine businesses if breaches occur.
Craig Beaumont, the Federation of Small Business’s executive director, said: “The announcements today undermine the Government’s own push for growth.
“Ministers are now starting to run out of time to fix the Bill, and show they have the back of one million small business employers.”
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
‘Labour has showed whose side they’re on!’ Shadow Business Secretary rages over workers’ rights Bill – but gleeful unions celebrate
Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights Bill will ‘take Britain back to the 1970s’
PA
Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights Bill will “take Britain back to the 1970s”, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has warned.
Reacting to the Deputy Prime Minister’s latest round of amendments to the Bill, Griffith said: “Labour’s jobs-killing Bill will take Britain back to the 1970s.
“Only business creates growth. But by refusing to listen to businesses and bending the knee to the unions, Labour has showed whose side they are on.”
Meanwhile, unions have hailed the changes.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said it was “what working people and decent employers have been waiting for”, while GMB counterpart Gary Smith said it was “far from perfect” but a “massive step forward”.
While the TUC’s Paul Nowak said the “common-sense reforms” would “deliver better pay, security and respect for millions of workers up and down the country”.
Yesterday’s top stories: Labour tops polls, Farage ‘to scrap inheritance tax’, Starmer celebrates Ramadan
Labour has retaken the lead in a national poll following Sir Keir Starmer’s triple-header week of hiking defence spending, travelling to the White House and bolstering support for Ukraine.
Pollsters at YouGov surveyed Britons across Sunday and Monday – and the party of Government has gained two percentage points to leapfrog Reform UK to first place.
Keir Starmer marks Ramadan by attending ‘big iftar’ as PM reflects on ‘difficult time for Muslims’
Sir Keir Starmer has celebrated Ramadan at what he described as a “difficult time for Muslims in the UK” during an iftar event held in Parliament.
The Prime Minister attended “the big iftar” hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims on Tuesday evening.
Nigel Farage vows to ‘completely scrap inheritance tax’ if Reform UK win next election
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has launched a scathing attack on the Climate Change Committee as he offered fresh support to the farming community, warning that the “rural economy is under threat”.
Farmers across Britain have descended on Westminster today in a “pancake rally” against Labour’s inheritance tax raid, as the Government’s war on farmers has so far yet to see a U-turn.