Boris Johnson should not forget the debts of the pandemic

Back in the beginning when it felt like we really were all living through this together, politicians and pundits zeroed in on the inequalities and injustices exposed by the pandemic. In tones akin to Lloyd George’s “homes fit for heroes” speech, they talked breathlessly of the better future to be forged once the crisis was past.

It was a triumph of hope over expectation. The economic aftershocks, unemployment, scale of government borrowing and fears of loading costs on struggling businesses were always likely to take precedence over any debt to the low-paid key workers upon whom the rest of us had suddenly realised we relied.

To anyone who still thought otherwise, Boris Johnson’s new legislative programme hammered home the point. Among the items missing were the overdue plan to fund social care; any move to raise statutory sick pay from the low rate of £96 a week which left many Covid sufferers feeling unable to self-isolate; and the long-awaited employment bill strengthening protections for workers. One could also cite the meagre one per cent pay rise offered to nurses.

After months in which many were hypnotised by talk of tackling society’s great iniquities, the trance has lifted. Three, two, one, we’re back in the room.

In fairness to the government, there is a strong argument to be made for delay on employment rights. The furlough scheme ends in September. Businesses are already facing multiple challenges, not only from the pandemic but from the difficulties of reaching net zero emissions targets and, for many, coping with Brexit disruption. For now the Tories remain focused on their pre-crisis “levelling up agenda”, now repackaged as “building back better”.

On social care, the issue is less intent than will. The options on how to fund it are all well understood but Downing Street is still tussling with the Treasury. What is missing is a decision. 

Ministers insist the employment bill, promised since 2019, will be delivered this parliament. But the fear for unions is that the timing may never be right for the Tories. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, may now talk about strengthening protections but he has in the past disparaged British workers as “idlers”. The pandemic may ease, but the challenges of Brexit and net zero remain. Moreover, for many Tories, the competitive advantage of lighter regulation was a key benefit of leaving the EU.

There is no reason to doubt that a bill will come, though Tories worry it may become a “Christmas tree” on to which MPs will try to load extra measures not in the legislation. The real question is more over its ambition.

The Tories have pledged better redundancy safeguards for pregnant women, extra rights for carers, more power to request flexible work and the creation of a new enforcement body. Less clear is how far they will go on other issues such as insecurity at work, with greater protection for gig workers and those on zero or low-hours contracts and tightening up on “fire and rehire” which TUC polling suggests was faced by 1 in 10 workers last year. There is no sign of intent to raise statutory sick pay.

Flexible-hours contracts are not the unalloyed evil some suggest but they can be fairer. Measures being urged on ministers include decent notice of or compensation for cancelled shifts and even a right to normalised hours after a set period.

Where the Tories land on these issues will say a lot about the kind of party Johnson is building. There remain many supply-side Conservatives who resist regulation and see the UK’s flexible labour market as a driver of investment and job creation. But there are also more interventionist Tories, including some from the newly won northern seats, who take a more nuanced view. They desire flexible labour markets but also want rewarding work. Johnson has made clear his is a different party from that of his laissez-faire predecessors and he knows quality jobs are part of the contract with his new electoral coalition.

Many Tories focus on housing and the belief that owning a home gives people a stake in society and helps turn them into Conservative voters. But a home is only part of the package. A decent, secure job is also central to a stake in society, and it is far easier to get a mortgage if you have one. 

Yet the rise of gig jobs and short-term contracts are increasing insecurity at work, and act as a block to better terms or conditions. In some sectors competition for labour drives up conditions and wages but a cohort of insecure, if not always low paid, younger workers now exists who felt their exposure during the pandemic.

While delay is defensible until recovery is assured and employment stable, Tories should remember the pandemic’s lesson of the deeper links between all in society and keep faith with the key workers who helped get the country through.

This points to a deeper reason why Conservatives should not neglect this issue. In the new book, Greater, which sets out an optimistic vision for Britain, co-author Penny Mordaunt, the paymaster general, asks how to restore faith in markets: “The biggest threat to capitalism,” the book states, “is not socialism: it is pessimism.” The same can be said for Johnson’s Conservatives. The biggest long-term threat to them is a loss of hope which leaves voters feeling that, far from building back better, in too many places the nation has simply papered over the cracks.

robert.shrimsley@ft.com