Fathers ‘betrayed’ by Labour workers’ rights bill, say paternity leave campaigners
New fathers have been “betrayed” by Labour’s flagship employment rights bill, campaigners have said, after it emerged that a promised “day one” right to paternity leave will not include the right to statutory pay.The Guardian has learned that while the bill will give an estimated 30,000 more new dads each year statutory paternity leave, they will still need to have worked for the same employer for at least six months before being eligible for statutory paternity pay.The revelation has caused anger in Labour ranks and among campaigners for better paternity leave, and sparked manoeuvres to try to force ministers to change course, with a flurry of amendments tabled when the bill comes to the Lords for debate on Tuesday.The Fatherhood Institute, which is campaigning for six weeks’ well-paid leave in the baby’s first year, described the lack of day one rights to pay for new fathers as a “betrayal”.Kathy Jones, the CEO of the charity, said ministers had repeatedly pointed to the employment rights bill as a significant step towards a better system and suggested further policy would come after their parental leave review later this year.
“Making paternity leave and pay a day one right – and the promise of bigger changes – felt like a sign of good faith, after many years of this important policy area being totally neglected,” she said.“So to find out the pay element isn’t included feels like a betrayal.”On Tuesday, the Labour peer Ruth Lister will ask for an amendment calling for the government’s promised parental leave review to consider introducing a Scandinavian-style “daddy month” of reserved parental leave, with better pay and including self-employed fathers.“The partial extension of day one rights does not touch the sides when it comes to the current shoddy treatment of fathers,” she said.“So long as women carry so much of the responsibility for childcare in the private sphere, they enter the public sphere of the labour market with one hand tied behind their back.
”Joanna Penn, a Conservative peer, will also table an amendment in the Lords that would result in new fathers being entitled to statutory parental pay from day one of a new job.“The government says it is introducing the new day one right to paternity leave, but without any funding for paternity pay it’s just hot air,” she said.“The low rate of statutory parental pay already makes it impossible for many dads to take leave, but how many can afford to take two weeks off completely unpaid?”The Labour MP Stella Creasy, who helped secure a government review of all parental-leave rights by next year in the employment rights bill, said that if the government only improved maternity rights, they would only entrench maternity discrimination.“Many parliamentarians understand the need to make sure that women are not penalised for having babies, and men need time with their children – that’s good for the economy and good for parents,” she said.Sign up to Headlines UKGet the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningafter newsletter promotionA groundswell of support for better rights for fathers is growing in Westminster, with dozens of Labour MPs joining forces with the campaign group the Dad Shift.
Campaigners have long argued that the UK has one of the least generous paternity offers in the world, with the UK ranked 40th out of 43 OECD countries.Employed fathers in the UK get two weeks’ statutory paternity leave paid at £187.18 a week (less than half the “national living wage”), which accounts for only 1.9% of all government spending on parental leave.A government spokesperson said: “Our plan for change is on the side of working parents, which is why we are making paternity leave and unpaid parental leave day one rights under the employment rights bill.
We’re also committed to carrying out a review of wider statutory parental leave to ensure it offers the best possible support to families,” This article was amended on 29 April 2025,The length of time that new fathers need to have worked for the same employer before being eligible for statutory paternity pay is six months, not nine months as the subheading and main text of an earlier version said,
M&S cyber-attack linked to hacking group Scattered Spider
A major cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer has been linked to a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, which is previously thought to have hit MGM Resorts and the US casino operator Caesars.The group, which has previously been found to include people in their 20s from the UK and the US – some of whom faced charges over attempts to steal cryptocurrency via phishing attacks in the US – are reported to have encrypted key M&S systems using ransomware, according to the technology specialist site BleepingComputer.The reports emerged as online sales at M&S – which account for an average £3.8m a day – were suspended for a fifth day.The disruption caused by the hack – and uncertainty over when it will end – has wiped more than £500m off the stock market value of M&S in the past week as experts said it had clearly suffered a cyber-attack on a huge scale
Amazon denies planning to publish tariff costs on main site, as White House blasts ‘hostile and political’ act – as it happened
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Elon Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says
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Self-service tills: a bleeping pain or brilliant? | Letters
Thank you, Hilary Freeman, for catching and coining the central movement which is sickening us all: “the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society” (Hell is not other people – it’s being stuck in the ninth circle of an automated telephone service, 22 April).We need it, we will die without it. For Freeman, it comes with the introduction of ATMs to Tuvalu; for me, it’s the self-checkout tills of the Co-op around the corner. I used to chat to Brenda. I can’t do it now, and something dies inside me
Saints’ Phil Dowson fears Premiership clubs ‘sleepwalking’ towards financial crisis
The Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, fears the sport is “sleepwalking” towards another club going bust and endorsed plans for the Premiership to become a franchised league on the basis it would be more appealing to investors.Premiership and Rugby Football Union executives have drawn up plans for an “expansion” league, akin to a franchise model, that would allow for teams to be added to the current 10 top flight clubs should they meet certain criteria. The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, revealed that there is the possibility of expanding for the start of next season.Relegation would be officially done away with, however. No side has been demoted since Saracens had it forced upon them for salary cap breaches in 2020 and though there was the potential for a playoff between the side who finished bottom of the Premiership and top of the Championship this summer, only Doncaster met the necessary criteria and they are out of the second tier title race
Daniel Dubois dismisses Oleksandr Usyk’s ‘mind games’ before showdown
Daniel Dubois has warned Oleksandr Usyk that none of the mind games will matter when they step into the ring for their heavyweight title unification contest and suggested the Ukrainian would simply not be able to “handle the pain” when they meet at Wembley on 19 July.On Tuesday afternoon, Dubois and Usyk presented a compelling study in contrast as, in separate conversations to officially launch the fight, the two men echoed the differences between them that had already been made plain 24 hours earlier.During a face-off on the Wembley pitch on Monday afternoon, the normally mild-mannered Dubois had shoved Usyk, who responded, after his initial surprise, by bursting into laughter. Dubois, the IBF champion, shook his head when asked if his actions had been premeditated. “No, it was just one of them things,” he said
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