Angela Rayner must not cave in to critics such as Nigel Farage over her pub banter crackdown, a union chief has said, saying they are just protecting “their right to be offensive”. The Telegraph has more.
Paul Nowak, the head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has urged the Deputy Prime Minister to stand firm in her bid to protect workers from third-party harassment, which forms a key part of her Employment Rights Bill.
That is despite critics arguing that it will encourage people to “sue for hurt feelings”.
Mr Nowak argued that critics such as Mr Farage, who have attacked Ms Rayner’s workers’ rights reforms, are just protecting “their right to be offensive”.
While calling on pub landlords to back the Bill, the TUC boss argued that the third-party harassment clause will not mean monitoring conversations.
He said: “I love going to the pub as much as anyone but I don’t think that the thought police are going to descend on Britain’s pubs.”
His comments come after the Government was warned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that proposals forcing employers to protect staff from “third parties” could apply to “overheard conversations” among pubgoers.
The protections are set to be introduced under Ms Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill, which is a keystone of Labour’s so-called New Deal for Working People.
Concerns over the Bill were also raised in the House of Lords during a second reading last month.
Lord Young told peers that he was worried it would “accelerate the erasure of the good old British pub”, while Lord Strathcarron called it an “Alice in Wonderland” clause that would “satisfy the whims of the ever-changing, latest version of group think”.
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