Labour plans to give people the legal freedom to work from home as part of its election manifesto, as well as making it easier for employees to strike.
The policy to make flexible working the default option is featured in an extensive inventory of proposals being formally weighed up, which has been leaked.
The key line purposes make flexible working the default from day one for all employees, except where it’s not reasonably possible.
It comes at a time when there are escalating fears that Britain’s poor productivity is having a damaging impact on economic recovery.
The position was first set out by the party in July 2021, when Angela Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader, said it wasn’t just about working from home but also broader flexible working rights.
Other examples include flexible hours, staggered hours, compressed hours, annualised hours, and flexibility around school runs and other family and caring commitments.
This sharply contrasts with the Conservative Party’s perspective, with prime ministers attempting to entice people back into the office after the Coronavirus pandemic.
Increasing the possibility of people working from home could endanger the motivation to improve the UK’s productivity, which trails behind some of the other major economies and is seen as essential for ensuring improved development in the long term.
In a further blow to those imperilled by the cost of living crisis, the Bank of England hiked interest rates up 0.25 percentage points to 4.5 per cent, a new 15-year high.
It is the 12th consecutive bump and a peak since October 2008, when the credit crunch sent the level tumbling.
It means that about 2.2 million people with variable-rate mortgages will face immediate increases in their bills.
The working-from-home policy was one of several bold proposals in the leaked 86-page policy handbook which had been circulated prior to Labour’s National Policy Forum (NPF).
The contents of the document were obtained and published by the Left-leaning political website Labour List.
A number of the policies in the document are not new and fit in with the party’s public perspective.
The document was newly circulated to stakeholders in the party, confirming that its policies are likely to be considered for the party’s next manifesto.
The NPF will be meeting to discuss the policies this summer and there will be further debate at Labour’s party conference this autumn.
Their Scroungers’ Rights Act was bad enough, now they want to add even more non-rights. It’s down to employers to determine work habits, not the Government.
The United Kingdom is a country that could theoretically reintroduce slavery, or at least completely abolish most basic workers’ rights.
The Tories are bad enough and I for one want them gone, but Labour is just as terrifying. This country is now past the tipping point. There are a handful of worthy politicians and our Government institution is working against the majority of British people.
And then we have Artificial Intelligence, which is more affordable than humans, and large companies couldn’t care less about decent customer service these days. If your job can be done from home, it can be done by Artificial Intelligence, and all employers will soon catch on.
Sir Keir Starmer is a positively dangerous person who will destroy the United Kingdom. In fact, he’s even madder than Jeremy Corbyn, simply because he’s got a legally trained mind, whatever that is. His policies just don’t add up because they’re sheer nonsense, but hey, go ahead, give him power and stand back and watch the UK slide down the drain.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 