Angela Rayner’s new workers’ rights law is now under fire from both businesses and Britain’s top union, as Labour is simultaneously accused of harming the economy and failing to protect workers.

In a humiliating intervention this morning, Unite – the UK’s biggest union – published a statement slamming the package as having “more holes than Swiss cheese” that hostile employers will still be able to use to harm employees.

General Secretary Sharon Graham accused the plan of “stopping short of making work pay”.

She also accuses Labour of breaking its election pledges, observing that the Bill “ties itself up in knots trying to avoid what was promised”.

Describing the flagship legislation as a failure, she blasts: “The bill still ties itself up in knots trying to avoid what was promised. Failure to end fire a rehire and zero hours contracts once and for all will leave more holes than Swiss cheese that hostile employers will use.

“The Bill also fails to give workers the sort of meaningful rights to access a union for pay bargaining that would put more money in their pockets and, in turn, would aid growth.

“Unite will continue to make the workers’ voice heard as we push for improvements to the legislation as the Bill goes through parliament.”

Unite’s criticism means that Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds have succeeded in angering both unions and businesses with their left-wing plans.

Last night the Federation of Small Businesses said that the Government’s Employment Rights Bill will hamper firms up and down the country, and hit the stalling economy.

They described the policy as “clumsy, chaotic and poorly planned”.

The FSB’s Tina McKenzie, said: “This legislation is rushed job, clumsy, chaotic and poorly planned – dropping 28 new measures onto small business employers all at once leaves them scrambling to make sense of it all.

“Beyond warm words, it lacks any real pro-growth element and will increase economic inactivity, seriously jeopardising the Government’s own 80 per cent employment target.

“There are already 65,000 fewer payroll jobs since Labour took power, and the new Government is sending out a troubling signal to businesses and investors.”

This morning Jonathan Reynolds was confronted with this criticism, as Radio 4’s Emma Barnett accused Labour of “knocking businesses in the kneecaps”.

The Business Secretary rejected the FSB’s criticism, arguing that everything unveiled today is not a surprise as they were set out in Labour’s manifesto.

He argued: “We have listened and worked very closely specifically with the FSB… We have agreed and are committed to consulting with businesses of every size to make sure we get this right.”

“Many businesses already work to a higher standard and where we’re changing and moving the employment rights flaw that is because there is insecurity and we need to tackle those issues.”

Last night the Tories described the package as “a thinly veiled reward for the trade unions after they donated £28 million to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.”

Shadow Business Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: “We will look closely at the detail of what the Labour Party have set out. But businesses and the economy need certainty not the threat of being sent back to the 1970s, unleashing waves of low threshold, zero warning strikes, driving down growth and slowing productivity.”