'Better pay will end the self-defeating low wage'

MP for Ellesmere Port

MANY of you will be aware that I have long been preparing the Labour Party’s New Deal for Working People.

One of the flagship policies on offer at the next General Election, in my role as Shadow Minister for Worker’s Rights I have been pleased to have spent so time on preparatory work for the legislation required in the next Parliament.

I have spent many months speaking to potential supporters and party members up and down the country about our ambitious proposals to bring in the biggest upgrade in workers rights in a generation. Our ambition to ensure a fair day’s pay for a day’s work is core to our values and we believe that everyone deserves high-quality, secure, rewarding jobs.

Boosting people’s income is not just the right thing for them, it is also the right thing for our economy. Better pay will end the self-defeating low wage, low investment and low productivity cycle that the country has been trapped in for the last decade. It will also help to tackle the cost of living crisis by ensuring everyone is paid enough to live on.

Labour will strengthen protections afforded to all workers by banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire and scrapping qualifying periods for basic rights, which leave working people waiting up to two years for basic protections. This will include unfair dismissal, sick pay and parental leave, giving working people rights at work from day one.

Our country remains riven by inequalities which Labour is focused on fixing – to ensure the working people who create our nation’s wealth get their fair share of it. Rather than stacking the odds against working parents, we will deliver stronger family-friendly rights. Of course there will be ongoing discussions with both business leaders and union bosses as we work through the details, but we are confident that the changes we propose are in the long-term interests of our nation. However, as the general election draws nearer and focus intensifies on what a potential Labour Government would mean for the country we will get scrutiny and challenge on our policies. This has meant that have been a number of speculative stories about various elements of our New Deal for Working People; I believe that the more people hear about how these policies can make a positive difference to many people’s lives, the better.

Meanwhile, I was pleased to pop to the Royal British Legion in Little Sutton to wish Freddie Wing well during his effort in support of the Great Tommy Sleep Out fundraising challenge, bearing in mind the estimated 6,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in the UK.

Freddie slept out for three nights on the green near Tennyson Road, Ellesmere Port, followed by a night outside the Legion in Little Sutton and is thought to have raised more than £300 for this good cause.

In a final note, allow me to pay tribute to my friend and colleague Michael Edwardson, a much appreciated volunteer at my office, who has decided to step down as councillor for Wolverham ward on Chester West and Chester Council for health reasons. He has served the people of Stanney and Wolverham diligently for the last six years and will be sorely missed.

Thank you for all your work Michael and get well soon.