Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Labour’s “New Deal for Working People” went the way of its £28bn “Green Prosperity Plan”. Launched in 2021 to much fanfare – from the unions at least – it promised a revolution in workers’ rights not seen in “decades”. Now parts of the deal look set to be dropped. It’s hard not to read this as confirmation that Keir Starmer has been itching to pare back the plan for some time, but faced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in its author and champion Angela Rayner. “Not with Keir and I at the helm,” the deputy leader said defiantly last October, in response to rumours her deal would be watered down. At the time, Rayner pledged to “personally” table the legislation within 100 days of taking office. Zero-hour contracts would be banned, along with fire-and-rehire, while workers would be handed “basic rights” from day one. Union power would be entrenched by, among other things, making recognition easier, relaxing rules on calling strikes, and allowing right of entry to the workplace – despite the dangers this would clearly present in a period of rising militancy. But with Rayner’s political currency depleting as the row...