ANDREW GRIFFITH: The 4 job-killing measures in PM's (Un)employment Rights Act that will take us back to the 70s

By ANDREW GRIFFITH, SHADOW BUSINESS AND TRADE SECRETARY Published: 01:00, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 01:22, 3 August 2026 At 56, Andy Burnham is just about old enough to remember what Britain was like in the 1970s, when union barons called the shots. The waves of strikes that caused energy blackouts, left rubbish piled high on streets and crippled British industry. In 1979 alone, 30 million days were lost to industrial action. And if our new Prime Minister doesn't move swiftly to repeal his predecessor's disastrous Employment Rights Act, history will repeat itself. As Shadow Business Secretary, I watched on in horror as Labour MPs voted through the Act towards the end of last year. It was clear to me, and colleagues across the House, the Bill would be disastrous for the British economy and for the more than one million young people not currently in education, employment or training, the so-called Neets. Far from creating jobs, the Employment Rights Act will suffocate businesses in red tape, hand yet more power to the anti-work unions and push the welfare burden on the taxpayer higher still. The good news is that, although the Act itself passed in December, its most damaging measures are yet to come into effect and the new Government has one final opportunity to stop this inexplicable act of national self-harm. To my mind there are four parts to the Bill which Labour must scrap immediately. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith says that instead of creating jobs, the Employment Rights Act will suffocate businesses in red tape, embolden unions and burden taxpayers The first is the so-called 'swipe to strike' legislation that allows online balloting for strike action. This new measure is set to come into force on August 25 and will dramatically increase the power of the unions. Not only will it make it far quicker and easier for unions to stage industrial action, but electronic voting – which has been repeatedly ruled out for political elections – opens the process up to abuse. As things stand, unions must hold a secret postal ballot in which members mark a paper voting form and send it to the scrutineers in a prepaid envelope. My biggest fear about online polling – apart from the very real prospect of cyber-attacks – is that it could lead to intimidation. I do not believe that an electronic system, with workers voting in staff rooms or on lunch breaks at their place of work, can ever be a truly secret ballot. In the worst-case scenario this could involve workers feeling obliged to share screenshots from their phones that reveal how they voted. Along with Labour's plan to reduce the notice period for industrial action to just ten days, and increasing the time period within which unions can call a strike following a successful ballot from four weeks to an entire year, 'swipe to strike' will leave businesses much more vulnerable to strike action. This is madness and will cost the taxpayer dear. The second element Burnham must repeal is the extension of the time limit within which employees are able to make an employment tribunal claim. It is currently three months but the new Act will double that to six months, starting from October. There is already a backlog of half a million claims, which means both employers and employees have to wait years for cases to be heard. And the system has become infamous for awarding compensation for the most fanciful of claims, such as the illegal migrant who complained that pillows in a hotel where she worked triggered her asthma, or the NHS worker who sued after taking offence at being compared by a colleague to Darth Vader. All this is proof-positive that a culture built around 'rights' rather than responsibilities is running out of control. The last thing this country needs is yet more ludicrous tribunal cases, which will cause more delays and give employers more reasons to shy away from taking the risk of hiring people. The third appalling provision is the so-called 'right to roam' legislation, which gives trade unions special powers to enter workplaces up to 52 times a year – or once a week – in order to solicit members or foment campaigns. The 'right to roam' legislation gives trade unions disruptive special powers to enter workplaces up to 52 times a year. Pictured, Striking post office workers march through London, 1971 Even former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn (pictured, right, with Andy Burnham) was critical of the Employment Rights Act reforms when he led a Government review in May Union reps will be allowed access to company intranets and personal data, with even small businesses – with as few as 21 employees – obliged to down tools at short notice and serve the union's bidding, however disruptive this may be. Absurdly, this even applies to businesses where not a single employee is a union member. Trade unions are supposed to represent the interests of their members, this legislation allows them to act like the Stasi. And finally there is the 'banter ban' which will restrict free speech in pubs, at football grounds and on university campuses by requiring people who cause offence to be banned from the premises. This draconian proposal has rightly faced ferocious opposition from free-speech campaigners, including this newspaper. Even the much-maligned Equality and Human Rights Commission warned the legislation was too vague and could result in 'excessive limitations' on debate. So why does Labour want to put this ban in place? Well, according to former roads minister Lillian Greenwood, it is 'needed to help anxious staff cope in the workplace'. Frankly, this is the same 'snowflake' mentality that has resulted in an explosion of benefits claims for anxiety, and the views of Christians and upholders of traditional British values being subjected to Left-wing 'lawfare'. These four provisions are just some of the mindless articles included in the Employment Rights Act which I believe will be disastrous for Britain. But you don't have to take my word for it. The Government's own review of youth unemployment, carried out by former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn, concluded in May that: 'Employment Rights Act reforms, while intended to strengthen worker protection, were seen by some employers as increasing the burden of managing underperformance and reducing flexibility.' Milburn is not alone. The Resolution Foundation, which created the National Living Wage and acts as a finishing school for ambitious Lefties, concluded the Act 'won't make any difference to economic growth'. Even the think-tank founded by that arch proponent of a Left-wing, legal activism agenda, Tony Blair, recently described the reforms as 'extreme', warning they will increase the risk to entrepreneurs, 'eroding business confidence to hire and ultimately undermining growth'. Conservatives know that work gives people purpose, contributes to their personal development and provides financial independence. An ever-increasing array of employment rights are of no use to you if you can't find a job. That is why we will repeal all of the job-killing measures in the (Un)Employment Rights Act and curtail the power of the public-sector unions by ending the scandal of the taxpayer funding paid time-off for employees to carry out union duties and withdrawing the obligation on private-sector employers to do the same. Most importantly of all, we would expand opportunities for young people, not by imposing more regulations but by unleashing the potential of the businesses that create those jobs by cutting taxes, reducing the price of energy and slashing red tape. Because it's not Government that creates jobs, it's businesses. Any government forgets that at its peril. Amid the tumult of the 1970s, the Conservative PM Edward Heath asked the electorate a simple question: 'Who governs Britain?' The Labour Party seems to believe the answer should be militant trade unions. And their belief in this timeworn folly will take our economy – and our society – back to the bad old days. Keith Urban 'absolutely devastated' after learning of ex-wife Nicole Kidman's new romance