Trade unions have this week ramped up in a big way the drive to have powers over employment rights devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Unions across the UK backed such a move on Monday. They did so by passing a motion to this effect put to the Trades Union Congress by Unite, which has expressed misgivings about what it perceives as “row backs” by Labour on pledges about what it would do on the employment rights front if it wins the next general election.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner showed no sign of being swayed at all by this motion when she addressed the TUC in Liverpool on Tuesday, making no mention of devolving employment law to Scotland while declaring the party’s “new deal for working people” would mean “work will finally pay, rights will be properly enforced, and, crucially, it will strengthen the role of trade unions in our society”.