Rayner urges MPs not to ‘blink or buckle’ on employment rights

Angela Rayner has told MPs “now is not the time to blink or buckle” as she pushed for Labour’s flagship Employment Rights Bill to finish its passage through Parliament.

The former deputy prime minister was speaking in the Commons on Monday for the first time since the government abandoned its pledge in the bill to give workers protection against unfair dismissal “from day one” of a job, instead setting the bar at six months.

As a minister, Rayner had championed the bill and said she was “frustrated” by recent delays and compromises, saying the legislation was “pro-business and pro-worker”.

Conservative shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said Rayner was “calling the shots”.

The legislation was announced by Rayner within 100 days of Labour coming to power, upholding a manifesto commitment for “new rights for workers from day one to parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal”.

She had championed the bill as deputy prime minister before she resigned from all her ministerial and party roles after not paying enough tax on a new flat and continues to be a voice of support from the backbenches.

The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne acknowledged there had been “a battle to pass this bill”, but stressed that “its passage will be a historic achievement for this Labour government”.

“Now is not the time to blink or buckle,” she said. “Let us not waste a minute more – it is time to deliver.”

The bill has been held up in the Lords, and there was anger among Labour MPs that a manifesto pledge had been blocked by some peers, according to reports.

Last month, Business Secretary Peter Kyle announced the U-turn on the right to make a claim of unfair dismissal, changing it to six months instead of on day one in an effort to pass the legislation.

Former Labour business minister Justin Madders said it pained him to see a manifesto commitment “jettisoned” but commended the minister on finding a way through the deadlock.

He added: “The Lords cannot keep coming back because they don’t like what is in this bill, because this is a promise that we made to the British people, and we have to deliver on it. We have to let democracy win.”

The bill is currently stuck in what’s known as “ping pong”, because it is passing between the Lords and the Commons. This was the third time peers had sent the bill back to MPs with suggested changes.

Business Minster Kate Dearden said the legislation was “pro-growth” and “a win-win for employers, employees and a more competitive British economy”.

She said better employment rights would “end the unfair market competition in which some firms seek to beat their competitors not by better quality or increased value, but by cutting the pay and conditions of their workforce”.

However, Griffith accused Dearden of signing “the warrant for a war on jobs” and a “charter for a jobless generation”, claiming “thousands of young people will struggle for opportunities because the rungs of the ladder have been sawn off”.

Liberal Democrat business spokeswoman Sarah Olney criticised the change to compensation for unfair dismissal, claiming it had been “snuck in at the last minute”.