Angela Rayner hails ‘pro-business, pro-worker, pro-growth’ Employment Rights Bill

Angela Rayner has declared that the “pro-business, pro-worker, pro-growth” Employment Rights Bill will mark the beginning of a new chapter for workers’ rights in Britain.

Opening the bill’s second reading debate in the commons on Monday afternoon, Rayner rubbished what she called the last government’s “scorched earth approach to strikes”.

The deputy prime minister outlined the ways in which the government is seeking to strengthen workers’ rights, including by repealing legislation passed under the last fourteen years of Conservative government, such as the Minimum Service Levels Act 2023 and Trade Union Act of 2016.

Rayner told MPs: “We know the valuable contribution that trade unions make, and that is why we’re resetting industrial relations. The Conservatives presided over strike Britain with their scorched earth approach to strikes.”

She added: “We know the party opposite will oppose this [legislation] every step of the way.

“We know because they have history — just like they opposed Labour’s minimum wage and now shamefully want to take us back to the dark ages when women were denied maternity pay. But it is clear that they’re out of step with modern Britain. Our plans mark a new way forward: a new deal for working people.”

Rayner closed: “This is a pro-business, pro-worker, pro-growth bill and a pro-business, pro-worker, pro-growth government. And today, after 14 years of failure, we are starting a new chapter and decisively delivering a better Britain for working people.”

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