The foreign secretary, widely seen as the front-runner in the contest to become the next prime minister, is considering overhauling protections for workers, the Times reported. Up for review, according to the report, is the 48-hour working week, which was adopted as part of the EU’s Working Time Directive and which, under Truss’ leadership, could be among the protections withdrawn in a bid to “ to make the UK more competitive”. Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady urged Mr Truss to “come clean” about any plans to overhaul worker protections. “Liz Truss’ number one priority should be helping families pay their bills this winter,” O’Grady said. “Holiday pay, equal pay for women and men, safe limits on working hours and parental leave are just some of the rights underpinned by retained EU law. These are vital workplace protections and rights – not nice O’Grady added. If Truss succeeds in her bid to replace Boris Johnson, she will inherit a chaotic government facing a host of challenges including the cost of living crisis, worsening energy bills and a series of strikes by criminal lawyers and rail workers, as well as a threat to industrial action in other areas. Truss faced criticism after leaked audio revealed she had said British workers needed to show “more graft”, while her plans to overturn the fracking ban have been slammed by environmental groups and the outgoing prime minister. Reports indicate that Truss plans to reverse the fracking ban within the first days of her leadership. Fracking has been banned since 2019. However, Truss plans to “end the effective ban on extracting vast shale gas reserves through fracking” to tackle the crisis in energy bills amid fears there could be blackouts over the winter . Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. A 25% discount on bills is expected to be offered as an incentive by fracking companies, while Truss said it would only allow fracking to take place with the support of the nearby community. Truss is reported to want to issue up to 130 new drilling licenses for oil and gas companies to explore new fields in the North Sea. But this week Johnson questioned the “environmental damage” that comes with fracking, saying: “I’d rather we focus on the things where we’re great and where the environmental damage is really minimal. “If we could fight effectively and cheaply in this country, that would potentially be very beneficial. I just have to say, I’m a little dubious that it will prove to be a panacea.”
