The employment regulator will force firms to pay for trade union ‘equality’ representatives to take time off under Labour’s new bill. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service – the quango that advises firms on employment law and workplace relations – is updating its official Code of Practice, expanding it from guidance on giving staff “time off for carrying out trade union duties and activities” to covering both “time off” and the “accommodation and facilities an employer must provide” to “union equality representatives”. Go woke, go broke…
Under the (un)Employment Rights Act bosses must give woke union reps paid time off to “promote the value of equality in the workplace”. Unite’s own handbook tells reps to “check how representative the workforce is of the community”, “remove barriers to equality” and “promote equality” for LGBT, migrant and agency workers and ex-offenders. They’re also instructed to “tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia” and ensure “visible practices forwarding equality policies on sexual orientation and gender identity”. Co-conspirators can place their bets on whether this is what will get growth going…
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns told Times Radio she would have put a precondition on a China trip if she were PM:
“I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?”