Asked on Wednesday when he first became a fan of the controversial “fire and rehire” employment practice, Sir Keir Starmer grimaced on the Commons benches.
The joke, part of a Prime Minister’s Questions set-piece by Rishi Sunak, referred to Labour’s messy Sue Gray problem, which saw the former chief of staff sacked and then given a new job in charge of “nations and regions”.
It raised a few much-needed giggles on the Conservative benches but the jibe also neatly underlined a recurring criticism of the new Government: that it says one thing then does another when things become too difficult.
Away from the Downing Street psychodrama, that problem is threatening to rear its head in the debate about how to overhaul workers’ rights.
The bill to give employees greater security, control and flexibility at work is being driven forward by two quite different characters: Jonathan Reynolds, the Business and Trade Secretary, and Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister.
Which might be part of the problem.
One is a pragmatist focused on economic growth, while the other made her name in the trade union movement and has one eye on keeping Labour’s........