"Downing Street's claim that it had delivered the single biggest upgrade of working rights in a generation tells you almost everything about Labour's current condition. The government was not announcing new legislation it was just confirming that it would reverse Lords amendments weakening the bill it introduced last year. The amendments, welcomed by business lobbies, had stripped out protections such as day one rights against unfair dismissal, and softened restrictions on fire-and-rehire."
"But instead the mundane is spun by Downing Street as a transformative win. And this illustrates a deeper problem: a government that promised bold economic change is reduced to theatre. The fear at the Trades Union Congress is that a once-ambitious bill has been weakened and, after the exit of Angela Rayner and her team, is now dependent on secondary legislation controlled by ministers no longer sympathetic to its original aims."
Downing Street presented the reversal of Lords amendments as a major upgrade of working rights while merely restoring protections removed earlier. The Lords changes had eliminated day-one unfair dismissal rights and softened fire-and-rehire limits. Reinstating the original provisions represents the minimum expected from Labour, yet the move is portrayed as transformative, signaling a government reduced to performative politics. The Trades Union Congress fears the bill has been weakened and may rely on secondary legislation after Angela Rayner's departure. Louise Haigh argues that breaking fiscal constraints is essential for renewal. The deputy leadership contest is tightly managed, constraining debate and left-wing candidacy.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]