Planning ahead: The New Deal for Working People was put together by Angela Rayner
Treasury Minister Gareth Davies has criticised Labour’s plan to outlaw zero-hours contracts.
‘These contracts are used by employees because they are providing them with flexibility on how they work,’ Davies told the Mail.
‘We have got to get the balance right between making sure that workers have rights, but we have also got to make sure that businesses are able to be nimble.’
Under Labour’s New Deal for Working People, put together by deputy leader Angela Rayner, zero-hours contracts would be banned, new employees would have full rights from day one, and the practice of firing and rehiring would be made illegal.
Leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to introduce the deal for workers within 100 days of taking office, a move that is popular with the party’s trade union backers.
But Davies disagrees with the implication that enterprises are by nature exploitative. ‘Most business owners treat their staff impeccably because the happier colleagues are, the better businesses are and the better service customers get,’ he said.
The Exchequer Secretary’s comments were made during a visit to start-up hospitality business Chai Guys Bakehouse in west London.
The visit was timed to coincide with the rise in the VAT threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from today and the extension of the 75 per cent business rates relief for small retail, hospitality, and leisure firms.
Davies, a former City fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle, indicated that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would use the annual Mansion House speech in July to continue his effort to unleash start-up funds for tech companies.
‘Every time the Labour Party have left office they leave higher unemployment,’ Davies added. ‘We put greater value in creating opportunities for employment.’
The minister declined to say whether the Treasury might abolish stamp duty on share dealings to restore confidence in London quoted firms. ‘It’s about having a tax environment that is supportive of growth and having a stability of regime.’
