What's happened
Labour faces union backlash over potential watering down of worker rights plans, with Unite warning of diverting funds. The party denies reports of weakening the package, which includes banning zero-hours contracts and boosting sick pay.
Why it matters
Labour's worker rights plans are facing scrutiny and potential backlash from one of its major union backers, Unite. The party's commitment to improving worker rights is being questioned amid reports of potential watering down, highlighting the delicate balance between business interests and workers' rights.
What the papers say
According to The Mirror, Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham has issued a warning to Labour, stating that any weakening of the New Deal for Working People would be a 'red line' for the union. On the other hand, Labour has dismissed reports of plans to dilute the worker rights package, emphasizing its importance in the election campaign.
How we got here
Labour's New Deal for Working People, introduced in 2021, aims to enhance employment rights by giving workers protections from day one and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts. The proposals have faced opposition from business groups concerned about increased costs.
Common question
More on these topics
-
Rwanda, formerly Ruanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. One of the smallest countries on the African mainland, its capital city is Kigali.
-
Rishi Sunak is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2022.
-
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the northÂwestern coast of the European mainland.
-
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB QC MP is a British politician and former lawyer who has served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015.
-
The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists.
-
The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France and links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end.
-
Benyamin Naeem Habib is a British politician and businessman. He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He remained in the role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.
-
Sadiq Aman Khan is a British politician who has served as the Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously a Member of Parliament for Tooting from 2005 until 2016.
-
A Tory is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history.
-
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul.