Labour ‘Lawfare Britain’ Would See Massive Increase in US Style ‘Class Action’ Lawsuits
Guido has been doing some digging on Labour’s flagship New Deal for Working People – promised in the first hundred days of a Labour government. It would introduce a raft of new employment laws and a statutory system for industry-wide collective bargaining of wages and conditions – potentially opening the floodgates for class action cases against employers and private businesses to the benefit of specialist law firms in the sector. This is standard practice in Joe Biden’s USA, and under Starmer, it’ll come here…
Causing concern is the cosy relationship of Starmer’s party to class action lawyers – who are increasingly using the already clogged courts to secure political wins against businesses and damages for claimants who rarely receive a fair share of compensation. With 22 Labour MPs of a legal background running again, and 17 more selected to run in the upcoming general election, Labour are set to have a deep legal base represented on the government benches. Many of these lawyers come from a background in claimant law – specialising in representing groups who seek to recover damages from another party, often from businesses and employers…
The strongest link is with well-established Trade Union and Claimant Law firm Thompsons Solicitors – where longtime MPs Richard Burgon, Andy McDonald, Ellie Reeves, Jo Stevens plied their trade prior to Parliament, and where newly selected candidate for Wolverhampton West, Warinder Juss currently works. In 2022, Thompsons took legal action against the government over new regulations allowing the use of agency workers during industrial action. Other MPs with links to class action style activities include senior Shadow Cabinet members David Lammy and Emily Thornberry, as well as Marsha De Cordova. They have all been spotted at private events put on by claimant law firms…
Guido is surprised the Conservatives have not yet raised this spectre as a threat to British business. CEOs remain largely in the dark, at least for now…
