In her speech to the CBI conference today [Monday 24 November
2025] will make the case that
Labour's Employment Rights Bill (ERB) includes a “de facto ban on
seasonal and flexible work”. She will say the bill is a disaster
for jobs and takes Britain back to the 1970s by handing militant
trade unions more power than they have had in several decades.
She will say that the ERB will kill opportunities for many,
especially young people, and make life harder for small firms.
None of this helps workers. It simply makes hiring riskier,
costlier, and slower, destroying jobs.
Badenoch will say that it's time to Get Britain Working Again, so
the next Conservative government will repeal every
job-destroying, anti-business measure in this bill because we
believe in rewarding work, not punishing it. We believe in
fairness for both sides, but we recognise that it is not
government that creates growth, it is business that creates
growth.
Badenoch will make the case that if needs ideas for her budget
next week to help grow the economy, she should start by
announcing the government will scrap the ERB. It is a cost-free
measure that will help generate growth.
is expected to say:
“When I visit business and ask them what most causes anxiety,
yes, they do talk about the tax burden.
But the single most complained about measure in this government's
programme is not a tax rise….
It is the Employment Rights Bill.
Businesses do not oppose rights for workers. In fact, you rely on
them.
You know that good staff are your most valuable asset.
But you can see, better than anyone in Westminster… that this
Bill is not about fairness it is about power.
It is about putting unions and lawyers in charge of your
workplace and sending you the bill
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 call the shots and employers carry the blame.
For thirty years, flexible labour markets have been one of
Britain's real strengths.
They allowed us to create millions of jobs after the financial
crisis…
They helped us keep unemployment much lower than competitor
countries... They are one of the reasons we became the largest
(net) exporter of financial services in the world right up till
2024.
This Bill rips that up…
…Take day one tribunal rights.
Under this Bill, a new hire can turn up at nine in the morning
and lodge a claim with an employment tribunal, before they've
even worked out where the toilets are!
There are already around 491,000 claims in the tribunal
backlog.
It takes about two years for a case to be heard…
Most employers are told by their lawyers to
settle …even when they have done nothing wrong,
because it's not worth the hassle and expense to fight the case.
That does not protect workers. It just makes
hiring riskier…costlier and slower.
It is a gift to the litigious… and a disincentive for anyone who
wants to give someone a job…
…Then there is the de facto ban on seasonal and flexible work.
If a university undergrad chooses to get a Christmas job and
works 40 hours a week in the three weeks before December, they
then have the right to those same hours in January, February and
March.
Great.
Except there's no demand then, and revenue falls off a cliff.
A measure designed to ensure employment in January will
effectively mean firms don't hire in December… and everyone
loses.
You know what happens then? Rational employers stop taking on
seasonal staff at all.
The farm does not hire the extra pickers…
The hotel does not staff up for the summer…the high street shop
stops offering Christmas jobs.
Those are the very opportunities that got many of us
started.
My first jobs were on the high street.
Many people in this room would have had their first job on a
summer holiday or Christmas shift.
We risk these opportunities disappearing…
… It does not raise a single pound in revenue.
It does not help a single unemployed person into work. It does
not add a single unit of productivity.
It is a pure political project.
Killing it would be a signal to the world that Britain still
understands what makes an economy grow.
If the Chancellor had any sense, and any regard for business, she
would use the Budget to say, “we got this one wrong” and drop it.
It would be the cheapest pro-growth measure in the Red Book.
If she does not, then I will make you this promise.
At the first opportunity, a Conservative government under my
leadership will repeal every job destroying, anti-business,
anti-growth measure in this Bill. We will restore common sense.
We will send a very clear message. Britain is open for business
again.”
