Election 2015: Labour 'should ban' zero-hours contracts

Zero-hours contracts should be banned, Welsh Labour's economy minister has said, going further than party policy.

Edwina Hart said there was "no place" for such terms of employment, while campaigning in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Earlier on Wednesday, party leader Ed Miliband said a Labour government at Westminster would give workers the right to a regular contract after 12 weeks of regular hours.

The Conservatives have claimed the move would be a threat to jobs.

"As a party we're in the business of helping those dispossessed and those that aren't doing well, and that's why he's made such an issue of this policy," Mrs Hart said, backing Mr Miliband's announcement on zero-hours contracts.

"At one time people thought they had a place, but there's been so much abuse, there's no place for them."

Commenting on an open letter by business leaders supporting Conservative economic policy, Mrs Hart dismissed it as "no surprise to anybody" and "just something that happens in the campaign".