Keir Starmer has today called for the ‘fire and rehire’ tactics employed by British Gas to be made illegal.

Speaking at TUC congress, the Labour leader said the company’s behaviour ‘went against British values’.

In July British Gas’s parent company Centrica issued advance redundancy notices for its 20,000 UK workforce – while at the same time trying to make huge detrimental changes to their terms and conditions.

Last month GMB members voted overwhelmingly [95%] in favour of proceeding to a strike ballot.

Justin Bowden, GMB National Secretary, said:

“Our members have said it, MPs from Labour, the SNP and Conservatives have all said it and Keir Starmer said it again today.

“British Gas must step back from their fire and rehire plans. As Keir said, it’s not just wrong, it’s against British values.

“GMB calls on Centrica to get real, withdraw their threat and work with employees to develop a shared recovery for the company instead.”