03/02/2021 - I agree that we need to protect and enhance workers’ rights. I know that there have been misleading media reports lately suggesting the Government intends to weaken these rights now we have left the transition period, but the Business Secretary and others have confirmed that this is not the case.
The recent Opposition Day debate was in my view an attempt to draw attention to these misleading claims and create headlines accusing the Conservatives of voting against workers’ protections. This is not an appropriate use of the Opposition Day debate format, which should focus on actual Government policies rather than imagined ones.
The UK has some of the strongest protections for workers in the world, going further than the EU in many areas, including minimum wage, sick pay, maternity and annual leave. The EU’s Working Time Directive has already been transposed into UK law and there are no plans to get rid of it.
