Labour discusses plans to bring in a 10-hour week and slash pay by 75 per cent under a radical scheme to tackle climate change
- Autonomy think-tank called for ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes’
- Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell called it a ‘vital contribution’ to the debate
- Backed by adviser to Treasury minister Clive Lewis, who said: ‘I like this take a lot’
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell (seen on June 5) said of the document: ‘This is a vital contribution to the growing debate around free time and reducing the working week’
Brits could work for just 10 hours a week and take home up to 75 per cent less pay under a radical scheme to tackle climate change being discussed by Labour.
The report by the Autonomy think-tank called for ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’ to cut carbon emissions, including dramatically limiting how long people spend at work.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said of the document: ‘This is a vital contribution to the growing debate around free time and reducing the working week.’
Leo Murray, who advises shadow Treasury minister Clive Lewis, backed the report’s findings, saying: ‘I like this take a lot’.
The document, called The Ecological Limits of Work, was savaged by critics who said its suggestions would wreck the economy.
Brandon Lewis MP, Conservative Party Chairman, told The Sun: ‘The reality is this policy would slash people’s earnings and hammer the economy.
‘It could mean businesses having to cut jobs and wages. People could be left out of work and workers would take home less in their pay packet each month.
‘Labour don’t know how to handle the economy and it would be working people who would suffer with fewer jobs, lower wages and higher taxes.’
Will Stronge, director of Autonomy, said last month: ‘Becoming a green, sustainable society will require a number of strategies – a shorter working week being just one of them.’
It comes after Theresa May was locked in a row with Philip Hammond after he warned her plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 will cost the country £1 trillion.
The Prime Minister is expected to put the target into law in the next few weeks as one of her final acts before she leaves No 10.
But in a leaked letter to Mrs May, the Chancellor raised concerns that it will have profound implications for households, businesses and the Exchequer.
Leo Murray, who advises shadow Treasury minister Clive Lewis, (seen at an anti-Trump rally on June 4) backed the report’s findings, saying: ‘I like this take a lot’