A recent poll by YouGov has found that 63% of British people don't support the Government's proposal for owner-employee schemes.

Chancellor George Osborne outlined the proposal during his speech at the recent Conservative Party Conference. Under the terms of the scheme, employees would have the option to give up a number of their employment rights, such as redundancy pay and protection against wrongful dismissal, in exchange for shares worth between £2,000 and £50,000.

A strong majority of those intending to vote for the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats were against the employee-owner proposal. Although a plurality of Conservatives also opposed the idea, more were in support of it than supporters of any other party.

“George Osborne is clearly trying to present an idea that strikes a balance by enabling employers to fire people more easily, while at the same time giving employees considerable benefits for giving up some of their rights. However, the public opposition to this proposal would indicate that the Chancellor has a considerable amount of work to do to convince people that this is a good idea,” said Laurence Janata-Lipinski, Political Research Manager at YouGov.