Jonathan Reynolds’ speech at the Labour Party Conference on 28.9.26
The following link is to Jonathan Reynolds’ verbatim speech:-
Here he goes through the usual credits and then focusses on the key role of his expanded Department…
There are two key themes in his speech …..
Firstly, the Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy Paper is the Labour Government’s UK 10-year plan for the economy. Probably amongst the best Plans, maybe ever written, it was published as operational on 23.6.25.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69256e16367485ea116a56de/industrial_strategy_policy_paper.pdf
Secondly – and integral to the first – is the role of all people in the UK workplace – 34mn of them (per ONS)
Somewhere in this 34mn are those people who will deliver the Strategy.
Achieving anything meaningful in the picture Jonathan Reynolds paints would be miraculous.
Here is what he says about some of the people:-
“Now, finally, conference, I know the other parties don’t like our New Deal for Working People. They’ve made it quite clear whose side they’re on. But, let’s not forget, this is about no more or less than a person who goes out to work getting a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.
It’s putting an end to exploitative zero hours contracts so workers get one that reflects what they regularly work. It’s about giving workers protections to stop harassment, and ending fire and rehire – proving once and for all that only Labour, not Farage, not Polanski, is on the side of working people.
But conference, there is one area which both workers and businesses raise with me repeatedly, and that is bogus self-employment. Loopholes in our employment laws being used to define workers as self-employed when they are clearly not, denying them basic employment rights, undercutting businesses who are doing the right thing, and leaving people with the sense that playing by the rules doesn’t pay.
Everyone can see this isn’t right. It is a fundamental question of fairness. And conference, I am proud to announce to you today this Labour Government will put an end to it. We will close the loopholes, we will stop the most egregious examples of bogus self-employment, and we will level the playing field for business. And in doing so, up to 100,000 more workers will get access to the national minimum wage and holiday pay.”
Working Free contends that about 40% of the UK’S Total in Employment are Atypical Workers – broadly described as all Workers other than FTE (Full time employees)
If this is you, you’d better watch out!
If you are an FTE on someone’s payroll, Jonathan Reynolds’ speech on 28.9.26 at the Labour Party Conference – which sounded like a deafeningly loud drum-roll for a new dynamism in expanding businesses – and equally as loud for working people – this might have been reassuring – or even good news. More money and more protection.
But if you are running the business you would doubtless be worried. It would be you paying the extra money and you facing up to more time spent in admin, risk incurred and complexity in hiring and managing people.
More worrying still, would be if you are an independent worker – and in danger of being cut out of work opportunities because you have become too administratively demanding. Also, you will have to make sure that you fall on the right side of legality in your Tax affairs (IR35 etc),compliance and back officeprocesses.
What all this might mean is fewer jobs, higher costs and delayed growth.
Jonathan Reynolds needs to be told that his Plans ignore where the UK workforce currently is – and will only serve to make things worse and his Strategic Plan will fail
This is what characterises the current position:-
- Too many doing nothing.
- Too many with not enough to do
- Too many yet to adapt to changing needs.
- Too many in Public Sector
- Too many young people in serious danger of stunted careers.
- Too many in the Back Office – ought to be in the Front Office
- Too many people complaining about things – too many things to complain about. Too easy to complain.
- Too many people see Government as their personal lender not only of last resort but increasingly simply a soft touch before things get serious.
- Too many treat hard work as an inconvenience.
- Too many see success as an entitlement.
- Too much is too complicated
There is a view that around 40% of the £34mn workers in the UK workplace are NOT purely FTEs. Broadly referred to as Atypical Workers(All workers except FTEs – and not including those who do not get onto ONS stats.)
They have become a more significant element in the UK Employment Model, changing the word employment for engagement. All parties support “flexible working”. “Atypical” is one step further on. It is an established line of travel. Dumbing it down would be the opposite of “using all the talents” and a triumph of dogma over common sense.
Atypical Workers are a varied and mixed group of: –
GigWorkers, Part-timers, Self-employed, Contractors, Freelancers, Interim Managers, Temps, Consultants, Management Consultants, Semi-retired people, Portfolio Workers, Off-payroll workers, Self Drive Workers, etc. (Portfolio Workers include a broad mix of Professionals who have more than one source of income and work-type activity (whether on the payroll, freelance or non-remunerated – or a mix of these.)
Jonathan Reynolds does not realise that overprotecting payroll workers simply makes them too expensive and too difficult to manage. Victimising, vilifying and treating the 40% (of 34mn) as tax cheats – alongside the others not at work – is a massive act of economic Self Harm. Maybe worse, his Strategic Plan will fail. And we all will be losers.