The Green Party last night signalled a return to the industrial strife of the 1970s by promising to allow unions to revive the notorious practice of 'flying pickets'. In a speech in Manchester, Zack Polanski pledged to tear up Margaret Thatcher's anti-strike laws which finally brought militant unions to heel in the 1980s.
He said the Greens would introduce a £15-an-hour minimum wage. He also said the party would cap bosses' pay as part of a drive to establish themselves as the 'new workers' party'.
In the 1970s, so-called flying pickets took advantage of secondary picketing laws which allowed workers to take action at workplaces other than their own. It led to roving bands of militant union activists trying to shut down workplaces in 'solidarity' with fellow union members.
Mr Polanski is expected to pledge to scrap all anti-union laws introduced since 1979. He will say: 'The reforms introduced by Margaret Thatcher nearly half a century ago began the long march downwards in the balance of power and wealth in our country'.
His plans go much further than Angela Rayner's controversial workers' rights charter, which businesses have warned will damage growth and jobs. Experts and rival parties say that equalising minimum wage rates for all ages – at close to the median hourly pay in some parts of Britain – would merely leave more young people on the jobs scrapheap.
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: 'Youth unemployment is already rocketing after Labour's hikes in taxes and red tape. The last thing the economy needs are these lunatic Green proposals.'
