Unions have said the Government’s new plan for ‘Good Work’ is nowhere near good enough to tackle the menace of job insecurity and employment abuse. Commenting on the Government’s response to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices.

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said the Government had only taken a ‘tiny step’, adding: “It is clear that the Government still needs to accept that the best protection against worker abuse is strong enforcement coupled with strong trade unions. Ministers need to stop making it harder for us to do our job and accept too that the super-charging of low-wage, insecure work can be directly traced to the destructive deregulatory approach of the last 40 years.”

Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said the Government’s response was “like trying to put out a forest fire with a water pistol.” He added: “Big change is needed, change that is backed up by law and proper penalties for breaking those laws.”

John Hannett, General Secretary of the retail union Usdaw, said: “The Government has dithered when they could have acted. Additional enforcement of existing rights is welcome, but many workers need new rights to stop exploitation.” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, said: ‘It’s a big disappointment,” adding: “The trouble with Theresa May and Greg Clark is they’re all blow, no go.”

Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary Grahame Smith said: “Maintaining the current system will continue to divide workers according to dated definitions. Where legislation fails, workers must come together collectively through trade unions to win the control and conditions of work that government and companies are determined to deny.”