FirstFT: Labour dilutes workers’ rights plans to blunt Tory ‘anti-business’ claims

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The UK’s Labour party has watered down plans to strengthen workers’ rights as Sir Keir Starmer tries to woo corporate leaders and discredit Tory claims that his party is “anti-business” ahead of the next general election.

A pledge to boost the protection of gig economy workers was diluted by the opposition party’s leadership at its national policy forum in Nottingham last month, according to people familiar with the matter and text seen by the Financial Times.

The party also clarified its position on probation for new recruits, confirming a future Labour government would continue to allow companies to dismiss staff during a trial period.

The moves come ahead of a battle for the support of business leaders before a general election expected next year. Conservative ministers are looking to highlight what they see as a contradiction between Labour’s policies and Starmer’s efforts to court corporate chiefs in what party insiders have called a “smoked salmon and scrambled egg” offensive. 

The text agreed last month will be published in the run-up to Labour’s annual conference in October and will form a menu from which it picks its manifesto pledges. Here are more details on the changes seen by the FT.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• Sovereign debt ratings: Moody’s releases updated scores for Switzerland and Moldova, Fitch for the Netherlands and S&P Global for Estonia.

• Camp David: US president Joe Biden hosts his counterparts from Japan and South Korea as they prepare to sign a landmark trilateral military agreement aimed at countering China and North Korea.

• Women’s World Cup: England meet Spain in the final on Sunday after the Lionesses beat Australia 3-1 in Sydney this week.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Sanjeev Gupta has claimed that Lex Greensill repeatedly reassured him not to “worry about the documents” underpinning billions of pounds of loans that Greensill Capital extended to the steel magnate’s GFG Alliance group. The metals companies are now subject to a UK Serious Fraud Office probe. Read the full story.

2. Exclusive: UK investment firm Hayfin has raised more than €6bn for direct lending to European companies, making it one of the largest private credit funds to close in the region this year. The figure is about six times more than the $1bn raised by Europe-focused funds in the first quarter. Here’s what this means for the asset class once dominated by banks.

3. London-based Soho House will launch a new club at a complex next to the White House in Washington next year, teaming up with “junk bond king” Michael Milken, whose eponymous non-profit owns the Pennsylvania Avenue site. Soho House’s new outpost will be the fourth branch of The Ned, its upmarket offering which charges members about $5,000 a year. Read more about the $1bn project.

4. UK banks will be fined if they fail to provide cash services within a three-mile radius of retail customers and businesses, the government will announce today. The long-awaited proposals come on the back of mounting closures of local bank branches across Britain, prompting concerns of access to physical money. Here’s why the government’s plans have prompted a backlash from campaigners.

5. Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, a prominent figure in the UK’s Covid response, has joined Moderna as a senior medical consultant. Known for using elaborate sporting analogies to portray the pandemic, Britain’s former deputy chief medical officer took up the part-time role at the US vaccine maker in May. Here’s more on the latest “revolving door” move between government and industry.

News in-depth

As Europe’s tourism sector returns to near pre-pandemic levels of activity, visitors to the region’s vacation hotspots have faced sharp price increases from businesses passing on rising costs. With flights, hotel rooms and holidays all becoming more expensive, European Central Bank rate-setters are becoming concerned that a fresh wave of summer inflation spurred by tourism could complicate their efforts to keep prices under control.

We’re also reading . . .

• Bootleg ‘Barbie’: Russians have been flocking to screenings of low-quality pirated copies of the film after its producer Warner Bros pulled out of the country.

• Generative AI: Interest in the technology has been huge, even by the breathless standards of previous tech hype cycles, but what if investors are wrong, writes John Thornhill.

• War in Ukraine: A negotiated outcome remains elusive, writes Domitilla Sagramoso of King’s College London, but this could change if neither side gains a military advantage and a cold winter stalemate sets in.

Chart of the day

Yields on long-term US government debt neared a 16-year high yesterday as investors increased bets that the Federal Reserve would successfully avoid a recession while curbing inflation through higher interest rates. The sell-off in bonds was mirrored in the UK and Germany.

Take a break from the news

Richard Ford, Sara Wheeler, Paul Theroux and other writers reflect on their favourite swimming spots, from an outdoor pool in Iceland built near a volcano to a hotel in West Hollywood.

Additional contributions by Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith