Abstract

What has happened to British labour law over the past 40 years? It has become a larger more juridified subject. But its development requires an understanding of the new capitalism that has emerged, with capital more mobile and powerful in globalisation. Three aspects are chosen for comment: First the meaning of the recent review by the Law Lords of economic torts. Second, the arguments about the contract of employment in Britain and Italy, in the context of the regulation debate, forthcoming legislation and the search for acceptable standards of social justice. Thirdly, the scene is set in European law for a new chapter in the tension between employers' economic freedoms in the internal market and social rights, including the right to strike.