Chuka Umunna MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on ONS statistics on zero-hours contracts published today, said:

“These stark figures show that the Tories are the party of insecurity at work.  

“Zero-hours work is on the rise with the total number of contracts rising to 1.5 million and the number of people reporting their main source of employment as a zero-hours contract having risen by almost 20 per cent since last year. At the same time, there are now over 1.2 million people working part time because they could not find full time work - 200,000 more than when the Tories took office in 2010.

“Ministers are watering down vital protections at work and have refused to act to protect workers on zero-hours contracts. As long as ministers are happy to sit aside and encourage the proliferation of insecure work, more and more people won’t have the security of knowing where their next pay cheque is coming from or being able to plan ahead.”