Coalition opinions on employment law widely split
The issues of employment law and workers' rights are the subject
of a major difference of opinion in the coalition government, a new
survey has revealed.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) published the survey on
the first day of the Liberal Democrat party conference in
Liverpool, highlighting the differing views of the MPs in the
coalition parties on a number of key business issues.
Chief among them was the issue of employment law, which showed
that 87 per cent of the Conservative MPs surveyed believed the
balance of employment law had shifted too heavily in favour of
employees. This figure contrasted with just 29 per cent of Liberal
Democrat MPs who felt the same.
The BCC specifically asked questions on employment law opinions,
as it is an issue that has been raised to them on frequent
occasions, with many businesses claiming that it is preventing them
from taking on new staff.
The survey was carried out by polling company ComRes and sought
the opinions of 152 MPs from all parties during June and July.
The survey also revealed that 70 per cent of Lib Dem MPs wanted
a rise or leveling of business infrastructure expenditure in real
terms, compared to just 27 per cent of the Conservative
representatives.