Angela Rayner warned of ‘ugly rush’ to sack staff ahead of new workers’ rights plan
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Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves also accused of undermining business confidence and trust with surprise national insurance hike in the Budget. Business leaders have warned the government its plans to give workers a swathe of new rights from their first day in the job will lead companies to shed staff.
![[CBI Boss Rupert Soames has warned of an ‘ugly rush’ to shed staff]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/13/10/156702389.jpg)
CBI chairman Rupert Soames predicted an “ugly rush” to let people go before the new measures come into force. He also hit out at Rachel Reeves accusing her of undermining business confidence and trust with her surprise national insurance hike in the Budget.
Mr Soames, who is Winston Churchill’s grandson, launched an extraordinary defence of a Labour minister last week when he said that the tycoon and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk would have to “come through me first” after he called Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist”.
But he hit out at the government’s plans to give workers a host of new rights, including sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal from day one, and the banning of “exploitative” zero-hour contracts, Mr Soames said: "I think not only will they not employ (people), I think they will let people go. I think there could be quite an ugly rush before some of these things come into force. “.
"Nobody wants this, but the things like the probation periods in the Employment Rights Bill, we don't want that to become an adventure playground for employment rights lawyers.". He also accused the chancellor of having "bruised" the confidence and trust of business by expecting it to fill the hole in government finances with the NI hike.
