Martin Callanan or Lord Callanan as he is, has replaced Baroness Alenay who became the latest minister to resign (HERE) from DEXEU, the department for exiting the EU. He was formerly an MEP and someone has unearthed a speech he made in 2012 to the EU parliament when he was an MEP in 2012 (HERE). He wanted to "scrap the working time directive, the agency workers’ directive, the pregnant workers' directive and all the other barriers to actually employing people".
This was to help businesses create more jobs. It's typical Brexiteer thinking although when questioned about it they always deny wanting to water down employment rights. But since Mr Callanan made the speech in 2012, unemployment has continued to fall and is now at 4.3%, the lowest for decades. This with all the "barriers" to employment that he abhors in place thus demonstrating the hollowness of his argument.
If anything, it is too easy to hire and fire people in this country. This is why we have so many poorly paid jobs and why productivity is so low. Who would buy an expensive machine when you can employ a team of people on minimum wage to do it all manually?
He does not understand the model that the EU is aiming for. Like many Brexiteers he cannot see the societal benefit of employees having rights and being treated reasonably. I don't claim the new DEXEU minister wants to return the UK to being a Victorian sweat shop but he is closer to that on the scale of human rights than he is to the EU's idea of what constitutes social progress.
Incidentally, Baroness Alenay was a remainer who resigned after five months, citing an old injury sustained while alighting from a Blackhawk helicopter (amazing in itself) but there is no getting away from the fact she is the third minister to leave since June this year and has only been in post for five months. I heard Richard Cole (the vicar who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing since you ask) on TV recently telling us a friend of his in the civil service says they have ten years work to do on Brexit in the next eighteen months. No wonder people are getting out while their reputations are still intact.
