Angela Rayner says Labour’s policies on workers’ rights are ‘personal’ for her
Speaking as she campaigned in Hamilton in Scotland, Ms Rayner said the policies would ‘transform’ the lives of working people across the country.
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Angela Rayner has insisted Labour’s commitment to improve workers’ rights is “personal” – as she pledged to champion the issue “every single day” if her party wins power.
Ms Rayner recalled how as a single parent, the only employment she could get was in the care sector, where she had to work under a zero hours contract.
Companies would be barred from employing workers under such contracts under a Labour government, as part of a package of measures the party has called its “New Deal for Working People”.
When I was that young mum, on that council estate, told I wouldn’t amount to anything, it was the Labour government in 1997 that gave me hope and opportunity... for me it's personal
And Ms Rayner, speaking as she campaigned in Hamilton in Scotland, said the policies would “transform” the lives of working people across the country.
Plans for a “genuine living wage” will benefit some 200,000 people in Scotland, including 140,000 low-paid women workers.
Meanwhile, Labour would also bar firms from firing staff and then rehiring them under less favourable terms and conditions.
Speaking at a rally with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Ms Rayner said: “The New Deal for Working People will transform working people’s lives, it will lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty, it will give people secure work and secure pay.
“That’s why the New Deal is so important, for many people it will be a game changer.”
With just six days to go until polling day, she told party activists: “The change that we can bring in less than a week says we can have hope and optimism.”
She went on to recall: “When I was that young mum, on that council estate, told I wouldn’t amount to anything, it was the Labour government in 1997 that gave me hope and opportunity.”
Ms Rayner said that was why the policy was important to her.
“For me it’s personal,” she said.
“When I was a young mum on the council estate, the only job I was able to get because I didn’t have any qualifications, was in the care sector.
“When I went into the care sector, I was in the private sector and we were on casual contracts in those days, zero hours contracts.”
Ms Rayner, who could become deputy prime minister if Labour, as expected, wins the General Election, added: “People have underestimated me before.
“I will fight every single day because that young single parent who was on low pay and a casual contract back in the day, she fought her way up.”
She told supporters: “I am proud you put your faith in me to be in the position I am today and if you elect me as your deputy prime minister, I will fight for you every single day.”
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