‘U-turn on workers rights’ and ‘big migration fall’
The government’s plans to scrap unfair dismissal measures on the first day of new jobs are leading much of Friday’s newspaper coverage. “First-day redundancy protection canceled”, the Financial Times editorialized, as Labor “bowed to pressure from businesses to soften workers’ rights legislation”.
The Daily Telegraph also leads Labor to “abandon plans to allow employees to sue for unfair dismissal on their first day of work”. The newspaper says this is the “second manifesto breach in as many days” after the Budget “freezes the income tax threshold”.
“Workers’ U-turn on labor rights” is i Paper’s take on the government’s plan to reverse day one’s proposals on redundancy protections. The move was “criticised by Labor MPs but welcomed by the business community”, according to the newspaper.
Under a settlement agreement agreed by the TUC, the threshold for unfair dismissal will be extended by up to six months, the Guardian reports. It says the TUC has agreed to the regulation and general secretary Paul Nowak has said other parts of the workers’ rights bill, such as “day one sick pay”, are an “absolute priority”.
The Times reported that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced a “rebellion from Labor MPs” after he scrapped the protections on the first day, saying the policy was “backed” by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.
Metro’s leading story is new ONS immigration figures showing a decline in the number of arrivals to the UK. The headline reads “There are only 204,000 more people living in Britain” and that “the number of asylum seekers is increasing” and “the number of people coming here to study and work is decreasing”. The newspaper reports that Sir Keir “hailed the fall in immigration” while he “faces pressure from Reform England over immigrant arrivals”.
The Daily Mail says Britain is facing a “brain drain” and cites migration data which shows “young Britons are emigrating, while asylum seekers now make up almost half of net migration”.
Sir Keir’s defense of the Budget leads the Independent. The paper’s punch line is “Keir Starmer has been forced to deny misleading the public about record £26bn tax rises”, as he denies that the Labor Party has failed to deliver on its manifesto promise to “not increase tax on workers”, citing criticism from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Rachel Reeves’ uncle Terry Smith tells the Sun: “Britain is being ripped off by my niece”, joining other critics who describe the Budget as “a blessing for help seekers”. Reeves’s 73-year-old uncle also joins “a long line of detractors,” the newspaper writes.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express is leading the way with calls from terminally ill campaigners pressing the Lords to end delays in passing assisted dying legislation. The paper says his colleagues’ amendments opposing the original bill “steal valuable time and elections”.
A potential new lead into the murder of Jill Dando has been reported by the Daily Mirror. The Crimewatch presenter was shot dead on his doorstep in 1999 and the paper says investigators are investigating a “newly unearthed image” of what the newspaper claims is a “Serbian assassin”.
The headline on the front page of the Daily Star reads “Jack (Osbourne) plans big comeback” and I’m a celebrity… Get me out of here! the contestant is “secretly filming a paranormal series with the aim of becoming a big TV presenter”.
