Andrew Griffith: Our party will reverse this Government’s assault on employers

Andrew Griffith is Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade and is himself a former business executive for more than 25 years before entering Parliament in 2019.

I am an optimist. That may sound strange in the context of all this government are doing, and I know the British public are rightly weary of politicians who say “our best and brightest days are ahead of us”, only for little to change.

After 25 years in business, however, I am still not a typical politician. Business teaches you something about optimism. It turns capital into global scale companies, takes products from one customer to millions, and turns that first hire into thousands of jobs.

I still believe that we have good reason to be optimistic about Britain. We have great strengths like the rule of law, deep and sophisticated financial markets, and a unique mix of the kind of businesses that have a knack for thriving and competing globally.

Harnessing that will require change, and it will require being honest about where we are and how we got here. For one, we are no longer a rich country: measured by GDP per capita, IMF statistics show that the UK has tumbled from being ranked around 9th in the world in the 1990s to not even being in the top 20 today.

The state now consumes around 45 per cent of national income, well above the levels seen in more dynamic economies like the US, which is 35 per cent, and Singapore, which is closer to ten per cent. Under Labour the state’s share is only going one way – up.

While things are undoubtedly getting worse under this government, we also have to be honest: much of this is not new. Over 14 years, we Conservatives more than strayed from our purpose. Instead of confronting socialist ideas, we too often appeased them or implemented slightly milder versions. As Kemi Badenoch says, we talked right but governed left.

Instead of slashing the thicket of red tape, we became experts at growing it. We allowed international agreements and the courts to hamstring even the most basic functions of government. We also gave in to the all-consuming socialist idea that governments can solve all of society’s ills. That whatever the case, “something must be done” – no matter the cost. Above all, we ceased to be the party of business.

That’s why we are making changes. We are not going to rush. We will take the time to think and listen, including to you.

We are, however, clear on the direction of travel. A future Conservative government will actively reverse the damage this Government is doing. We will not merely slow the leftward ratchet of socialism; we will stop it.

That’s why I’ve announced this week that, alongside our existing commitment to scrap the family farm and family business death tax, we will commit to dismantling Labour’s job destroying Employment Rights Bill.

Far too few are aware of it: the 300 pages and 120,000 words of red tape. This policy, a hangover from the Corbyn manifesto, will alone cost countless businesses across the country billions. It will hurt growth in almost every way, but most of all it will hurt workers, many of whom will miss out on opportunities.

So, we will scrap the proposed shorter notice for strikes, and we will say no to collective bargaining being forced on businesses on the strength of just one in 50 workers requesting it. We will reverse the trade union ‘right to roam’ around the premises of private businesses and IT systems, and the ‘swipe to strike’ online ballots that raise serious concerns about bullying and coercion.

We will also shut down the misleading named ‘Fair Work Agency’ quango, created to pursue lawfare against British businesses even where not a single employee has raised a complaint.

We will repeal the parts of the Bill which ban flexible working hours, confer day-one rights that deter employers from taking a chance on young people, and ban free speech in pubs, stadiums, and other venues.

In respect of the remainder of the Bill, we will seek guidance from our Backing Business Advisory Board.  Not from an endless parade of government lawyers and trade unions, but from real experts: those who actually create growth in our country – a complete inversion of Labour’s cabinet, every one of them will have worked in or set up a business.

We will also right a wrong. We should never have jeopardised Britain’s growth by attacking wealth creators. Since the coffee houses of 16^th-century London, Britain has always been a place where prosperity came from capital meeting ideas. Now those conversations happen elsewhere: in Miami, Abu Dhabi and Milan.

It will take a herculean effort to convince those who have fled to return, but with confidence and consistency it can be done.  That’s why I am committing that as part of the policy review work we are already conducting, we will draw up a genuinely world-beating offer for wealth creators. We know that you don’t make the poor richer by making the rich poorer.

We will not only undo the damage Labour is doing now. We will put forward a plan that makes this country the best in the world to invest and build wealth. Without doubt, there is an awful lot of work to be done, but we are committed to doing it.

We are living in a unique moment in history. There are those who decry it as “late-stage capitalism”, arguing that the pie has stopped growing and it’s now time to ‘share’. They are wrong.

This is the most rapid, transformative period of technological change in the history of this planet. From rockets that take off and land themselves to AI to cures for diseases that once decimated entire nations, there is no end of upside potential.

And whether by luck or by destiny, Britain is at the forefront of these innovations.  We live in the most exciting age for human progress ever, and we have unique advantages to take hold of it.

We have learned from our own mistakes – the hard way – and we have learned from others too. Now is the time to put together detailed plans, a strong team, and return Britain to prosperity. That’s the chance I am optimistic about, and that’s the chance we are going to take.