THE Employment Rights Bill is at risk of being watered down, a Labour MP has warned, after being sacked as employment rights minister last week for no given reason.

Speaking at a TUC fringe on Monday, Justin Madders said that while he believed PM Sir Keir Starmer promises to deliver the Bill, “of course, he cannot be [trusted] across the detail.”

“Let’s not pretend that my departure, and Angela [Rayner]’s departure, is not something that the business community has been cheering quite loudly for,” said the employment lawyer and MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough.

“I haven’t been given a reason for my removal… but people will draw their own conclusions.”

Vouching for his successor Kate Dearden MP, he believed it “unlikely” ministers wouldn’t reverse recent Lords’ amendments curtailing the Bill, but warned of possible changes via statutory instruments — amendments by ministers that receive little public scrutiny.

“There’s going to be about 80-plus statutory instruments implemented over the new few years — that’s 80-plus opportunities for the business community to try and get some of this rowed back on.

“Getting the detail of the regulations is really important — how much evidential burden there is, how many consultations there need to be, what processes need to be followed.

“We do have to be organised and vigilant as a movement to make sure the government honours its promises on this.”

Unison senior legal officer Bruce Robin said: “Speaking personally, the zero-hour contract provisions are fiendishly complex. They involve some really difficult challenges for implementations.”

Today, TUC delegates passed a motion warning that “Congress is concerned about delays in implementing even the reforms promised.”

The union federation is to draft a workers’ rights package including the immediate repeal of all anti-union law, a full ban on “fire and rehire” and zero-hours contracts, a £15-per-hour minimum wage and a statutory right to collective bargaining for all workers.

Andy McDonald MP, architect of Labour’s New Deal for Working People, said: “It has always been a concern that so much of the detail of the Employment Rights Bill measures will be enacted through secondary legislation.”