Prime Minister Keir Starmer has used the introduction of new workers' rights to attack the Green party, warning that a vote for Labour's rivals puts progress on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts at risk. The measures, which come into force on Monday, include statutory sick pay from day one of illness and paternity leave from the first day of employment.
Writing in the Guardian, Starmer said: 'No other party offers both the economic credibility and the political will to do this. A vote for any other party puts that progress at risk – whether through choices that would take us backwards, or approaches that simply don’t stand up to the realities of governing.' He also criticised business figures who had opposed the changes, dismissing 'vested interests'.
Other measures taking effect include the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, a 4.8% increase in the state pension to £241.30 a week, and a 2.3% rise in universal credit standard allowance. Labour is keen to highlight these achievements ahead of local elections on 7 May, where it faces challenges from Reform UK on the right and the Greens on the left.
A Green party spokesperson responded: 'This is desperate from our caretaker prime minister, who woke up to a poll this morning showing Labour in fourth place and the Greens in first. The truth is that Labour had to be dragged into giving new workers rights which were watered down after corporate lobbying.'
Recent polling from YouGov placed the Greens in joint second place behind Reform, while a separate poll by Michael Ashcroft showed a three-way tie between the Greens, Conservatives and Reform on 21%, with Labour on 17%. Starmer's comments come amid pressure from potential leadership contenders and criticism from Unite, which described the Employment Rights Act as 'a shell of its former self'.
