Member

After the Budget, the Government rapidly announced that they would not deliver their clear promise of day one protection. There may be debate about other manifesto pledges, but on this the breach is unmistakable. Shadow Ministers, now Ministers— including the Prime Minister—called day one rights the foundation of the largest uplift in employment protections for a generation, but that promise is now being set aside. We are told that the shift from two years to six months reflects a negotiated balance between unions and businesses, with Ministers standing back, but I do not accept that characterisation. Unions were effectively told to accept six months or face years of delay to every other day one right and to the fair work agency, while the House of Lords obstructed the elected Government’s programme.