Starmer retreats from policy that made him party leader

The Labour Party is said to have "watered down" its policy on employment rights. Instead of granting full rights to every worker on their first day in a new job, employers will be allowed to put new employees on probation.

- JOHN RENTOUL

It is unclear how different this will be from the current law, which denies workers full rights until they have been in a job for two years.

Keir Starmer also seems to have retreated from his policy from just two years ago to create a single status of “worker” in order to prevent companies from using bogus self-employed status to cut tax bills and avoid giving workers employee rights. The party now promises to consult – in government – on “a simpler framework”.

What is the precise wording of Labour’s new policy?

We don’t know. Documents were agreed at the party’s National Policy Forum in Nottingham four weeks ago, but they have not yet been published. It was reported at the time that Starmer had got all the changes he wanted, and that Unite was unhappy, with the union’s delegates walking out of the final dinner.