Tories vow to scrap Labour's workers' rights Bill

Telegraph

25-06-2025

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap Labour's workers' rights Bill if they return to office.
Kemi Badenoch 's party has vowed to rip up key parts of Angela Rayner's flagship reforms, warning the plans would 'grind our economy to a halt '.
The Deputy Prime Minister was warned that her Employment Rights Bill will hurt economic growth and plunge Britain's employment tribunal system into chaos by allowing spurious claims.
The Bill would hand staff the right to take employers to tribunal for unfair dismissal from day one instead of having to wait two years.
The proposals would also allow shorter notice for industrial action, place fewer controls on strike ballots and create a new quango called the Fair Work Agency to act on complaints.
Speaking at the Prosperity Institute on Thursday, Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, will warn that the Bill would 'hand enormous power to trade unions who grind our economy to a halt'.
Mr Griffith's pledge to dismantle the proposals comes as the Tories set out a limited range of policies under Mrs Badenoch.
The vow to tear up Ms Rayner's plans is one of a handful of clear commitments about what the party would do in office, with the Tory leader preferring to focus on 'first principles' so far away from the next election.
Mrs Badenoch has also promised to reverse Labour's tax raid on private schools and undo their changes to agricultural property relief, which critics have warned will cripple thousands of family farms.
In his speech, Mr Griffith will commit to setting up a new Backing Business Advisory Board to help shape the business policies of a future Conservative government.
He is expected to say: 'In a complete inversion of the Labour Cabinet, everyone on it will have worked in or set up a business.
'With their guidance, we will finally wield the scythe against the red tape that holds business back and makes us all poorer.'
He will promise to deliver a 'genuinely world-beating offer' for wealth creators and entrepreneurs, adding: 'We know that you don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer.
'We will not only undo the damage Labour is doing now, we will put forward a plan that makes this country the best in the world to invest and build wealth.'
Relations between the Conservatives and business leaders were damaged in the wake of Liz Truss's mini-Budget, which spooked markets.
They were put under further strain after a series of tax rises that led to Rishi Sunak overseeing the highest tax burden since the Second World War – a burden that has since risen by tens of billions more under Labour.
'Work begins now'
Mr Griffith will say: 'The work to once again make the Conservative Party the party of business begins today. There is no way back to government without this.
'It won't be easy and it will not be done with sugar rush or press release politics. Instead, we will do the hard work needed to be worthy of your trust.
'We will take a relentless and serious-minded focus on how to remove regulations that impede growth, especially the heavy cost of compliance.'
The Tories have continued to struggle in the polls, with several surveys this week showing that Reform UK and Labour are outperforming them.
Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, responded to the Tories' proposal by accusing the party of wanting to 'dismantle' workers' rights.
Mr Reynolds said: 'Kemi Badenoch is crystal clear. She will strip working people of sick pay, backs fire and rehire, and thinks maternity pay is 'excessive'.
'The Conservatives' cruel plans would devastate family finances. It's the same old Tories. They haven't changed and you simply can't trust them to put the working people of Britain first.
'Through our Labour Government's Plan for Change, three million of the lowest paid have had a pay boost. We're going further by cracking down on rogue bosses and giving workers more rights at work – which is good for productivity and good for economic growth.'