The Tories will today vow to dismantle Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights Bill if they return to power.
A Conservative government led by Kemi Badenoch would repeal parts of the law set to hand more power to trade union barons and make strikes more likely.
Industry leaders will be asked if the rest of the Employment Rights Bill, which even the Government’s own calculations admit will cost firms £5 billion a year, should also be scrapped.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith will also promise to encourage the rich back to Britain amid reports that record numbers of millionaires are fleeing the country to avoid Labour’s tax rises.
In a speech at the Prosperity Institute, Mr Griffith will say: ‘The Conservatives will draw up a genuinely world-beating offer for wealth creators.
‘We know you don’t make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. We will not only undo the damage Labour is doing now, we will put forward a plan that makes this country the best in the world to invest and build wealth.’
Mr Griffith will add that the changes will ‘not be done with sugar rush or press release politics’ – a swipe at Reform UK’s policy of charging non-doms £250,000 to protect them from tax raids, with the money going to the poorest workers.
He will also set out plans to repeal parts of Ms Rayner’s labour laws that ‘hand enormous power to trade unions who grind our economy to a halt’.
He will tell how the legislation, dubbed the Unemployment Bill, will allow walkouts to take place with shorter notice – making it harder for bosses to prepare and organise cover.
Ms Rayner’s Bill will also force firms to enter into collective bargaining even if as few as one employee in 50 calls for it. Unions will be given a ‘right to roam’ in workplaces while electronic ballots for industrial action – dubbed ‘swipe to strike’ – could make intimidation more likely.
Mr Griffith will outline plans to set up a ‘backing business advisory board’ to help shape future Conservative policy.
He will promise: ‘In a complete inversion of the Labour cabinet, everyone on it will have worked in or set up a business.
‘With their guidance we will finally wield the scythe against the red tape that holds businesses back and makes us all poorer.’
Labour’s Employment Rights Bill is still going through the House of Lords but has already been blamed for putting firms off taking on new staff, as they will be granted the right to claim unfair dismissal from day one in a new job as well as paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
Business leaders told The Mail on Sunday that the law will take Britain back to the 1970s when union barons held the country to ransom with huge pay demands.
Last night Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: ‘Kemi Badenoch is crystal clear: she will strip working people of sick pay, backs fire and rehire, and thinks maternity pay is ‘excessive’. The Conservatives’ cruel plans would devastate family finances.
‘Through our Plan for Change, three million of the lowest paid have had a pay boost.
‘We’re cracking down on rogue bosses and giving workers more rights at work – which is good for productivity and good for economic growth.’
