Britain's Labour Party unveiled a comprehensive legislative plan on Saturday, aiming to deliver the most extensive policy agenda for a new government in decades. This includes the introduction of laws in the autumn to enhance employees' rights and provide greater protection for renters.
With parliament set to reconvene from its summer break on Monday, Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, announced that over the next few months, the government will push forward with legislation designed to shift power from employers to workers and enable tenants to contest unreasonable rent hikes. The Employment Rights Bill will ban zero-hour contracts, affecting approximately one million individuals in Britain who are on contracts without a guaranteed minimum number of hours and are paid only for the hours worked. It will also prohibit the 'fire and rehire' practice. The Renters' Rights Bill will eliminate the risk of arbitrary evictions and outlaw landlords from discriminating against families with children.
In the coming week, the government also intends to pass legislation to progressively re-nationalise the passenger rail network and bolster the role of the country's official budget watchdog. On Thursday in the House of Commons, legislators will get their first chance to debate the British Energy Bill, which aims to establish a publicly-owned company supported by £8.3 billion to co-invest in green technologies.
Powell emphasized, "This new Labour Government is brimming with energy, ideas, and the drive to fulfill our mandate for change. That's why we've unveiled a packed legislative agenda." Additionally, the government plans to introduce legislation to strengthen regulations on second jobs for lawmakers and hold water company executives personally accountable for criminal acts if their firms repeatedly violate sewage regulations.
