Labour will listen to bosses’ concerns on workers’ rights, says business secretary
The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has opened the door to bosses to influence Labour’s landmark changes to workers’ rights, amid boardroom fears over jobs and growth.In a signal the government could consider watering down the overhaul of employment rights, Kyle told business leaders at the CBI conference in London that he would hold a series of 26 consultations with companies after the bill became law.“When we launch these consultations, please engage with it,” he said.“Make your voice heard and engage with me and my department to make sure we get it right.”With Labour under pressure to reboot the economy before the autumn budget on Wednesday, Kyle committed to ensure that businesses would not “lose” as a result of the changes, which include a ban on zero-hour contracts and day-one protections for workers against unfair dismissal.
“I will not allow it to become zero-sum, [you] give one to the other, the other loses … This has to be got right.”Business leaders have stepped up lobbying against the workers’ rights changes, saying that employers would cut jobs as a result.The government’s own analysis estimates the changes could cost employers anything from £900m to £5bn to implement.Ministers are under pressure to implement the employment rights bill “in full” after Keir Starmer’s September reshuffle fuelled unease among unions after the resignation of Angela Rayner, who had championed the plan.Union leaders and backbench Labour MPs have said reneging on the manifesto promise, which has large public backing, would betray voters and undermine workplace protections for millions.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, told business leaders at the CBI that Labour’s shake-up represented a bigger risk to companies and the economy than tax rises in Rachel Reeves’s budget on Wednesday.She said: “It is a 330-page assault on flexible working, written in the TUC’s headquarters, designed to drag Britain back to a world where unions are calling the shots.” Promising that a Tory government would repeal the changes, she said Kyle’s assurance to business leaders that he would listen to their concerns would mean little in practice.“If 26 consultations are what you need to fix things, then you have a really, really big problem,” she added.Rupert Soames, the president of the CBI, said the bill would be “really, really damaging” for firms.
Kyle told businesses they could be reassured by his presence in government.As the science and technology secretary, Kyle was accused of being too close to big tech after Guardian analysis showed he had met nearly 70% more times with companies than his Conservative predecessor.“Thats is a criticism that I happily accept and it’s one that I expect to repeat in this job,” he said.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionKyle said he accepted business confidence had been undermined by continual speculation before Reeves’s budget on Wednesday.Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the CBI conference, he said: “I accept that some businesses have said that they are frustrated with the speculation.
..“I will listen to them and I’ll respect it, and I’ll give them a voice in the future decisions that we take.”He also acknowledged that some of Labour’s tax changes had led to wealthy individuals leaving the UK, telling Sky News earlier on Monday: “I’m not going to duck the fact that we have put up taxes and we’ve closed some of the loopholes for non-doms.”Currently going through parliament, Labour’s employment rights bill has been amended three times by Tory and Liberal Democrat peers in the Lords to accommodate key business demands.
Labour has sought to reassure bosses by suggesting it could tweak the law once it is passed, using secondary legislation, but unions fear this could lead to it being watered down.Kyle said he would do “what it takes” to unblock parliamentary hold-ups to the bill because of the Lords amendments, before then consulting on its implementation.“The voice of business, the voice of people who work in business, will be heard when we get down into the weeds of implementing those key parts of the employment rights bill.And yes, I’m talking about zero-hours contracts and day-one rights,” he said.
Motability scheme to drop BMW and Mercedes as it aims to buy UK-made cars
The Motability scheme to provide disabled drivers with subsidised cars has said it will remove expensive cars such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz and aim to buy more British-built cars.Motability said it hopes that 50% of the vehicles it offers will come from British factories by 2035. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the changes to the scheme would “support thousands of well-paid, skilled jobs”, before the budget on Wednesday.The Motability scheme has provided support for disabled drivers for decades to help with the extra costs caused by mobility issues. It buys cars from manufacturers and leases them to disabled drivers
End the tax break that makes flying cheaper than trains | Letters
Your article (Why are flights in the UK so often cheaper than taking the train?, 19 November) states that “it can still come as a surprise when getting on a plane looks like the money-saving choice compared with taking the train”. I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone, given that we’ve all seen eye-watering prices for rail travel and are bombarded with adverts for £20 flights to Nice. We’ve all read the stories of people who flew from one UK city to another via Mallorca or some such location because it was cheaper than getting the train.It does come as a surprise, though, that there’s no tax on aviation fuel. I’m the director of the charity Flight Free UK and I speak to a huge number of people about air travel
‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal
As Mumbai sees increased energy demand from new datacenters, particularly from Amazon, the filthiest neighbourhood in one of India’s largest cities must keep its major coal plantsEach day, Kiran Kasbe drives a rickshaw taxi through his home neighbourhood of Mahul on Mumbai’s eastern seafront, down streets lined with stalls selling tomatoes, bottle gourds and aubergines–and, frequently, through thick smog.Earlier this year, doctors found three tumours in his 54-year-old mother’s brain. It’s not clear exactly what caused her cancer. But people who live near coal plants are much more likely to develop the illness, studies show, and the residents of Mahul live a few hundred metres down the road from one.Mahul’s air is famously dirty
One in four unconcerned by sexual deepfakes created without consent, survey finds
One in four people think there is nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual deepfakes, or they feel neutral about it, even when the person depicted has not consented, according to a police-commissioned survey.The findings prompted a senior police officer to warn that the use of AI is accelerating an epidemic in violence against women and girls (VAWG), and that technology companies are complicit in this abuse.The survey of 1,700 people commissioned by the office of the police chief scientific adviser found 13% felt there was nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual or intimate deepfakes – digitally altered content made using AI without consent.A further 12% felt neutral about the moral and legal acceptability of making and sharing such deepfakes.Det Ch Supt Claire Hammond, from the national centre for VAWG and public protection, reminded the public that “sharing intimate images of someone without their consent, whether they are real images or not, is deeply violating”
Travis Head’s devastating knock gives Australia’s selectors a dilemma
Accidents do not come much happier. Usman Khawaja’s mid-game back problem was annoying for the player and potentially damaging for his team, until it wasn’t. Clearing out the regular dry-powder opener created space in the final stanza of the Perth Test, allowing Travis Head to finish off England with the gory certainty and splatter count of a Mortal Kombat fatality move. Sometimes you mash the buttons and it all just works.Consider an Ashes innings of 123 from 83 balls, on a bouncy pitch where two other players nudged 50, in an effort that did not just win the match, but has sent the opposition into a demoralising tailspin
England asked for CCTV footage of Tom Curry’s alleged tunnel scuffle
England have been told to provide CCTV footage of the alleged tunnel bust-up between Tom Curry and Felipe Contepomi after Argentina lodged a formal complaint and demanded an investigation into the incident.It is understood that Six Nations Rugby – which organises the autumn Tests – has asked for England to provide footage as well as a formal statement before deciding whether to begin disciplinary proceedings. The Rugby Football Union is also expected to provide any other relevant video captured of the incident.In an extraordinary press conference after England’s 27-23 victory on Sunday, Contepomi described Curry as a “bully” and accused the flanker of shoving him in the tunnel and telling him to “fuck off”. Contepomi also claimed Curry had “broken” the knee of Juan Cruz Mallía with a “reckless” tackle in the 75th minute – the incident that sparked the post-match bad blood
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