6 d. ago
Labour has humane and popular plans to stand up for UK workers. Why dilute them? | Gaby Hinsliff
Angela Rayner’s employment rights bill is precisely why many voted for this government. Why be embarrassed about a defining policy?One step forward, two steps back. Angela Rayner’s employment rights bill is back in the Commons this week, stuffed with ideas for improving everyday working life: that’s the big step forward for a government that was elected on a promise of radical change. The weekend headlines, however, were all about what won’t be changing after all. The so-called right to switch off – an early Rayner idea about legislating to prevent employees being pestered by out-of-hours calls and emails, which was already presumed dead due to not being in the bill – was ritually killed off once again for the Sunday papers, with a briefing that it still won’t be in the bill after fresh amendments are tabled on Tuesday.Presumably the idea was to reassure businesses fearful of extra regulatory burdens, on top of the looming April hike in employers’ national insurance. But since it’s ...
Politics
