Coalition opinions on employment law widely split

The issues of employment law and workers' rights are the subject of a major difference of opinion in the coalition government, a new survey has revealed.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) published the survey on the first day of the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool, highlighting the differing views of the MPs in the coalition parties on a number of key business issues.

Chief among them was the issue of employment law, which showed that 87 per cent of the Conservative MPs surveyed believed the balance of employment law had shifted too heavily in favour of employees. This figure contrasted with just 29 per cent of Liberal Democrat MPs who felt the same.

The BCC specifically asked questions on employment law opinions, as it is an issue that has been raised to them on frequent occasions, with many businesses claiming that it is preventing them from taking on new staff.

The survey was carried out by polling company ComRes and sought the opinions of 152 MPs from all parties during June and July.

The survey also revealed that 70 per cent of Lib Dem MPs wanted a rise or leveling of business infrastructure expenditure in real terms, compared to just 27 per cent of the Conservative representatives.