Labour is being urged to push again towards Conservative and Reform Occasion opposition to its landmark enlargement of staff’ rights, after a serious ballot revealed overwhelming public backing for key measures—together with a ban on zero-hours contracts and day-one sick pay.
The TUC survey, the biggest of its form with 21,000 respondents, discovered {that a} majority of voters throughout all political events—particularly those that backed Reform UK—help the federal government’s proposed employment rights invoice. The findings counsel that Labour has an “indisputable mandate” to push ahead with the laws regardless of criticism from enterprise lobbyists and right-wing media.
The invoice, which additionally contains strengthened parental go away and enhanced versatile working rights, has been described as the federal government’s hottest coverage amongst each Reform and Inexperienced voters. The TUC accused Nigel Farage’s get together of “defying its own voters” by opposing the invoice, whereas Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative chief, has made the invoice’s potential affect on companies a central assault line towards Keir Starmer.
Nonetheless, inner frustrations are reportedly rising inside Labour ranks, with some MPs involved that Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are hesitant to advertise the invoice too strongly for worry of alienating enterprise leaders.
Anneliese Midgley, Labour MP for Knowsley, stated the get together mustn’t maintain again: “We shouldn’t be shy in talking about improving employment rights—it is one of our best weapons in the fight against the populist right. Reform are all talk, they have no plan for working people. It’s this Labour government that is delivering for working people—and we need to shout about it.”
Widespread help throughout political traces
The TUC ballot discovered that 72% of UK voters help banning zero-hours contracts, together with two-thirds of those that voted Conservative or Reform within the 2024 common election. That determine is even greater amongst those that presently determine as Conservative or Reform supporters, with solely 15% opposing the ban.
Equally, three-quarters of voters again statutory sick pay from day one, together with 66% of Reform supporters. Greater than two-thirds additionally help stronger protections towards unfair dismissal and simpler entry to versatile working.
The constituency-level evaluation, carried out utilizing multilevel regression with poststratification (MRP), discovered majority help for these insurance policies in each a part of the UK—together with in seats held by distinguished Reform figures. In Nigel Farage’s Clacton constituency, 70% of voters help banning zero-hours contracts and introducing day-one sick pay. The identical stage of help is seen in Reform chief Richard Tice’s Boston and Skegness seat, Lee Anderson’s Ashfield, and Rupert Lowe’s Nice Yarmouth.
There’s additionally vital backing in key Conservative-held areas, together with in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency, the place 70% of voters again each insurance policies—regardless of her vocal criticism of them at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Paul Nowak, common secretary of the TUC, accused Reform of siding with exploitative employers moderately than staff: “Reform is defying its own voters and constituents on workers’ rights. Reform MPs voted against the employment rights bill at every stage. Nigel Farage and Reform aren’t on the side of working people—they’re on the side of bad bosses, zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire.”
With the invoice anticipated to return to the Commons for its remaining vote in late February, Nowak additionally warned Labour towards watering down its proposals beneath strain from enterprise teams or right-wing opposition. “Opponents of the bill are a world away from the British public,” he stated. “These policies are massively popular right across the country, and across the political spectrum.”
