TORY ministers were accused of “spinning mistruths” yesterday after a UN labour body rejected the government’s suggestion that it supports Britain’s looming anti-strike laws. 

In recent weeks, PM Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Grant Shapps have defended plans to mandate minimum service levels during public-sector strikes by suggesting that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has backed the proposals. 

However, when asked about this at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the ILO’s director general Gilbert Houngbo made clear that the organisation was not backing the Bill. 

He told the BBC: “I’m not aware of any bilateral discussion on this matter. We are very worried that workers may have to accept situations so they don’t get themselves out of a job. 

“They may have to accept a situation that is below par.” 

The proposed laws, which seek to hand the government powers to assert levels of service provision from striking workers, have been described by trade unions as “a fundamental attack on the right to strike.”

In another blow for the proposals, the US President Joe Biden’s administration also voiced opposition to the Bill this week. 

In comments to the BBC, US Labour Secretary Marty Walsh said he did not support the idea of minimum service levels, adding he would not “support anything that would take away from workers.”

The intervention comes after Mr Shapps told the Commons on Monday that the “ILO itself states that minimum service levels can be a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public.”

This was repeated by Mr Sunak earlier this month. 

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Ministers have rightly been called out for spinning mistruths. 

“It's little surprise that the ILO and the Biden administration have warned against these spiteful plans.

“These new anti-strike curbs will poison industrial relations and do nothing to resolve current disputes.”

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will return to Parliament later this month after passing its second reading in the Commons on Monday. 

If passed into law, the changes would force public-sector workers who vote for strike action to continue working or face the sack.

Trade unions could also face heavy fines under the legislation. 

Communist Party of Britain executive member Lorraine Douglas said the legislation is “a slaves’ charter that would make scabbing a legal requirement.

“Ultimately this draconian legislation can only be defeated by an upsurge in mass extra-parliamentary protest and industrial action,” she told the party’s political committee on Tuesday night.

A government spokesperson said: “Many countries in Europe and around the world who are signatories to the International Labour Organisation have minimum service levels in place covering a range of key services.

"We must keep the public safe, which is why we are introducing minimum service and safety levels across a range of sectors to ensure that lives and livelihoods are not lost.”