Cameron’s EU deal fails the low-paid, Corbyn said

Jeremy Corbyn condemned David Cameron’s EU deal as providing only “irrelevant” changes designed to appease Tory dissidents.

The Labour leader contrasted making the “real case” for the EU – on “investment, jobs and protection for workers, consumers and the environment”  – with Cameron’s attempt to tackle the Tories’ internal dispute over Europe.

He is also attacked the prime minister for failing to deal with problems in the British labour market.

“The changes do nothing to address the real challenges of low pay in Britain and the undercutting of local wage rates and industry-wide pay agreements. They will not put a penny in the pockets of workers in Britain, stop the grotesque exploitation of many migrant workers or reduce inward migration to Britain”

He went on to contrast Labour’s pro-EU case based on jobs, employment rights and balanced growth with the Tories’ “City of London interests”.

“The Chancellor rushed to Europe with an army of lawyers to oppose any regulation of the grotesque level of bankers’ bonuses,” Corbyn told the Commons yesterday.

“It is necessary to protect the rights of non-eurozone states, but not to undermine EU-wide efforts to regulate the financial sector, including the boardroom pocket stuffing in the City of London.”

Corbyn has chosen a different approach to other senior Labour figures, with Peter Mandelson praising Cameron’s deal as offering a “bridge” back to the EU for sceptics in today’s Guardian.