Edward Miliband today promised that if the Labour party wins the next election then the weekend will be lengthened by twelve hours.
‘Saturday will be made 36 hours long and will start at Friday lunchtime,’ Miliband said. ‘This is a the kind of bold thinking that people have come to expect from the Labour party. With Saturday starting 12 hours earlier everyone will be better off, with those working Friday evenings in particular being given a fairer deal. For too long people have suffered in silence, but no more! The time has come to reset the calendar.’
Asked if this was just a populist announcement to try and garner votes Miliband shook his head repeatedly before saying ‘Under successive Tory governments Friday has always been 24 hours long. The 48 hour weekend is a Tory travesty, which we are going to repeal.’
The Tories accused Miliband of ‘sleight of hand,’ with the Home Secretary claiming that ‘Just because you call Friday Saturday doesn’t mean that Saturday really begins on Friday. It will still be Friday.’
Several Trade Unions welcomed the plans and said that their members would be balloted to see if a reduction in the working week would be acceptable.
Regarding the cost of the initiative, Miliband said that Labour boffins were working on developing new clocks and the switchover would cost less than $5 billion, all of which would be funded by corporate sponsorship. When pressed he refused to give details of how this would work.
Opinion polls taken since the policy was announced have shown Labour increasing their lead in the polls. The Tory party has since announced a committee to look into the possibility of abolishing Mondays.
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