By STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

Workers in insecure jobs must be given greater protection according to a Glasgow MP.

Chris Stephens, SNP Glasgow South West MP, wants zero hours contracts scrapped and for workers to have legal protection from the first day of a job.

Mr Stephens will introduce a Bill to Parliament to define what a worker is in the light of some self-employed people being given “dependent contractor” status when they are only allowed to work for one firm.

Ms Stephens said: “If fairness isn’t nailed down in legislation and enforced then there there will always be employers who will push their advantage to the limit and beyond.”

HE said the recent Taylor Report into modern working practices prompted by the rise in self-employment the so called ‘gig economy’ was not focussed on workers’ rights.

He said: “I have a strong sense that the main focus on the Taylor report is not primarily the worker but that more weight is given to consumers’ and employers’ interests.”

Mr Stephens said that it was young people who were most at risk but not exclusively so and he welcomed the Bill by fellow Glasgow MP, Stewart McDonald, bidding to ban unpaid trail shifts that can see people working a week for nothing only to find there is not job at the end of it.

He criticised the Tories who he said were looking to push workers’ rights back centuries.

He said there was a “false narrative” about modern work that workers must be more flexible and leave being notions of security and guaranteed reward for their work.

Mr Stephens’ added: “The clear implication is that full-time secure employment with rights and a pension and clearly defined hours is an outdated 20th century concept.”

He said The Government are not and never will be the party of the workers” adding that the true intentions of the UK Government was found in the passing of the Trade Union Act.

He added: “I wonder if that crackdown on workers’ rights didn’t go far enough for some members who would look fondly on the 18th and 19th century legislation on employment, namely the Masters and Servants Acts and would happily vote for their introduction.”

Mr Stephens will present his Bill on workers’ rights to the House of Commons in January next year.