After the General Election, the Prime Minister made clear that Labour’s ethos would be built on being a government of service and delivering through actions not words.

Being in Government is never easy and we were under no illusions that rebuilding the country after 14 years of Conservative chaos and austerity would be a big task.

It is no secret that the Tories left a lot of nasty surprises behind for us – not least a £22 billion black hole in the public finances – but I am pleased that we have not allowed this to knock us off course.

After just 100 days we can already look back on a list of achievements which will provide a springboard for delivering the change that the country voted for.

Launching the Employment Rights Bill earlier this month sits high on this list and is a landmark moment for the Government.

Bringing forward this legislation within 100 days of office makes good on a key manifesto pledge, but far more important than this is that the bill will deliver the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation and help us leave behind the Tory legacy of job insecurity, low pay and poor productivity.

It is unacceptable that more than a fifth of employed people are in insecure work. Figures show that young people and ethnic minorities are more likely to be employed this way and are too often trapped in a cycle of low pay and poor working conditions as a result.

Our plans will make work pay by ending exploitative zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire practices, ensuring the minimum wage reflects the cost of living, and strengthening statutory sick pay.

All workers should have a level and fair playing field, irrespective of income.

The bill will help achieve this by giving more than one million people on zero-hour contracts the right to guaranteed hours, enforcing holiday pay for the first time, and entitling workers to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave from day one of employment.

Turning the page on outdated employment laws is also about helping employers and businesses of all sizes to keep people in work and reduce recruitment costs by retaining more staff, which will help achieve our mission to kickstart economic growth and make every part of the country better off.

Labour is the party of business and we will work closely with industry, the public sector and trade unions to ensure that the reforms are fair and work for everyone.

It is still early days for the Government, but I believe that our first 100 days have shown that we are fully committed to building a stronger, fairer and more prosperous Britain.

Andrew Western is the MP for Stretford and Urmston.