If Jeremy Corbyn had won the election you'd have had the day off today

Oh it’s hot today. 

Like really hot. Roasting. Boiling. Baking. Sweltering. It's like a sauna. Furnace. You can fry an egg on the pavement. 

It’s one of those rare weeks when Britain’s experiencing some heat (weather forecasts have us pegged at having more than 30 degrees all week), and people are struggling with… everything really.

Sleeping. Commuting. Eating. Working. It’s no surprise the Italians take all of August off and the Spanish take a mid afternoon nap – trying to get anything done in the heat is next to impossible.

But what if we told you it didn’t have to be this way?

Turns out there was a little bit of political thinking from 2015 that could have meant you got the day off work because of the heat.

And none of that working from home nonsense either, but proper “sit on the sofa with the fan on and chill out” day off work.

How? Well it all comes from a Commons motion floated by one Mr Jeremy Bernard Corbyn MP.

Way back in 2015, when David Cameron was Prime Minister, the UK was still in the EU and Roy Hodgson was England manager, Jeremy Corbyn floated a motion that would have brought in a maximum working temperature.

The way Corbyn saw it, asking workers to do their job in temperatures above 30C would be unsafe, so employers would either have to make their environments more comfortable, or in the case that that wasn’t possible (like underground or building suite workers), give the day off to their employees.

Get a fan or gimme the day off? Sounds like a win – (slightly bigger) win for us. 

Speaking in 2015, Corbyn said: “In this weather, high temperatures aren't just a problem in heavy industry but for millions of workers have been struggling with the heat in offices, schools, shops, call-centres - you name it.

"Good employers will have been taking steps to help out their workers in the heatwave.

"But putting a maximum temperature into law will give everyone a legal right to basic protections from working in unbearable conditions."

So what happened to this motion and how do we get it back?

Well, back in 2015, it reached a Early Day Motion (EDM) stage, where Corbyn asked MPs to support the motion. At the time Corbyn was a rank 16/1 outsider for leader of the Labour Party, so while some people listened, it didn’t go all the way.

Now though? Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour Party, has a fully costed and popular manifesto, and the opposition in the Conservative Party have a rather shaky mandate to form a government.

We’re not saying if Corbyn becomes PM he’ll immediately give us days off in the heat (along with four extra Bank Holidays). But we’re not *not* saying that too.

(Image: Rex)