For the first time in decades, and with public support, dignity and fairness in the workplace are back on the political agendaever underestimate the capacity of the political world to focus on questions that are relatively trivial in the larger scheme of things, all while issues of much greater significance stare them in the face. Labour’sAbbott is a politician coming towards the end of her career. She will have no power whatsoever under a Keir Starmer government.
To Starmer, and to the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the case for strengthened workers’ rights is rooted in two linked things. One is Britain’s long-term need for more respect in the workplace. The other is Britain’s need for more productive businesses. The link between rights at work and successful – ie profitable – businesses is absolutely key to the strategy. It is a world away from the old industrial politics of half a century ago.
The vanquishing of over mighty trade unions in the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher remains a central part of the modern Conservative party’s legacy. A generation ago, New Labour still felt the need to distance itself from anything implying the restoration of 1970s-style power to trade unions. The unions, though generally cowed, resented Labour’s indifference.
The plans are a reminder, in short, that times have changed. We live in a different Britain from the freewheeling economic expansion of the 1990s. Since the 2008 financial crisis, attitudes have swung round to embrace the case for better protections. And it’s not just Labour voters who are eager for more security at work. It’s every other sort of voter too, including plenty of Conservative ones, not least among supporters of Brexit.