The Institute of Economic Affairs has just dropped a new report slamming Angela Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill. The report warns that the £5 billion the government admits will directly cost businesses will end up hitting employees in the pocket through lower pay rises over time. So much for protecting ‘working people’…
The report also raises the alarm over sweeping new union powers, suggesting they could “revive 1970s-style militancy”. It brands the mandated benefits a “stealth payroll tax”. It also reveals that Britain’s labour market freedom score has plummeted – down from 81% on the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index two decades ago to just 63% today. The report’s author Professor Shackleton said:
“Politicians love to announce new employment ‘rights’ because they think employers pay the bill – but that’s an illusion. Every mandate, from parental leave to holiday entitlements, acts like a stealth tax that gets passed back to workers through smaller pay rises than they would otherwise receive. The Government is not protecting workers – it is harming them and undermining its own alleged number one priority to boost economic growth.”
Labour for non-working people…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”