Roger has added his signature to a letter from the “Unions Together” campaign to David Cameron and George Osborne which seeks to halt legislation which will pave the way for a ‘shares for rights’ plan allowing small and medium-sized businesses to ask new employees to give up some of their key rights at work, in exchange for shares in the business. For as little as

£2000 in shares, employees may have to give up the right not to be sacked unfairly, redundancy rights, as well as flexible working and maternity rights.
Roger said: “The Government should be concentrating on fixing our economy and getting people back into work, not on inventing hare-brained schemes to make it easier to fire people. The ‘nasty party’ cannot change its spots and will always have to pacify its right wing, particularly all those MP’s who have to sit it out on the back benches because government jobs have gone to the Liberal Democrats.”
He concluded: “There is a growing consensus amongst economists that the severity of the Government cutbacks is stalling the economy. Already the time line on austerity measures is being extended – it is now 2018 – and all this government can think about is eroding workers rights and cutting benefits. You don’t hear them championing stricter controls on UK companies who devise clever ways not to pay corporation tax do you?”

This article appeared in the January edition of Roger's newsletter 'Postcard from Parliament'