Ed Miliband responds to Kwasi Kwarteng's admission that employment protections are to be reviewed

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on Kwasi Kwarteng's admission in front of the BEIS Select Committee that he is reviewing regulations on employment protections, first reported by the Financial Times, said:

"After dismissing media reports and promising the Government has no plans to rip up workers' rights, Kwasi Kwarteng has now let the cat out of the bag and admitted that they are conducting a review of those rights - including opting out of the 48 hour week which protects workers in key sectors like the NHS, road haulage and airlines from working excessive hours.

"A government committed to maintaining existing protections would not be reviewing whether they should be unpicked. This exposes that the Government's priorities for Britain are totally wrong.

“Neither workers nor business want Ministers to take a wrecking ball to the hard-won rights of working people and families."

Ends

Notes to editors

• The Business Secretary has not got his facts straight. He said 17 or 18 EU countries have opted out of the 48-hr working week and therefore the UK is "above the average EU standard.” This is plainly not true. Five countries have a generalised opt-out and the UK is one of them. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/documents/empl/dv/empl20150416_eurofound_wtd_/empl20150416_eurofound_wtd_en.pdf