Jude Kirton-Darling (S&D). – Madam President, in 2016, the Committee on Petitions (PETI) of this Parliament heard directly from McDonald’s workers from across Europe about their precarious employment contracts and conditions as part of their ‘Unhappy Meal’ campaign. I’ve worked with them and I’ve been inspired by the mostly young workers in the fast food industry, who’ve joined together in their unions to say, ‘Enough is enough, we deserve fair working conditions and decent pay’.

This week we’ll be voting on a step in that direction. The draft rules on transparent and predictable working conditions are not as radical as I would have liked to see. I would have liked an explicit ban on exploitative zero—hours contracts and an explicitly universal coverage for all workers, regardless of public or private, and regardless of how many hours they work. But, as the European TUC have said, these rules give new important rights to precarious workers and shift workers across Europe. These rules must be implemented comprehensively, without loopholes or exceptions. These are minimum rights. Let’s do better. Growing precariousness at work is fuelling economic insecurity on which the far right feed. Let’s stop that feast.