Reveal which workers’ rights you plan to scrap, Benn and Eagle tell Outers

Hilary Benn and Angela Eagle today demand Leave campaigners reveal which workers’ rights would be binned in the case of Brexit following the Leave camp’s opposition to EU-led protection initiatives.

The Labour frontbenchers have responded to claims made by Priti Patel, who opposes Britain’s membership of the EU, saying halving the “burdens” of social and employment legislation would boost the economy and create more jobs.

Fellow Leave campaigner Boris Johnson has supported the proposal that Britain should be excluded from EU employment law – describing Cameron’s decision to drop the demand as “very disappointing”.

Benn and Eagle have launched a petition to demand the Outers reveal the rights they would forgo in the case of a Tory Brexit. It gained over 30,000 signatures on Friday.

Benn said the public had a right to know which crucial rights were in the “firing line” if the UK voted to leave.

“This is a pivotal moment for Britain’s workers. Make no mistake, a vote to leave will put the rights that many of us take for granted in the firing line. How do we know? Because the Leave campaign have said so. They want to use a vote to leave to strip these rights away.

“The Brexit Tories try to wrap it up in deliberately vague talk of getting rid of ‘regulation’ and ‘red tape’ but what they actually mean is getting rid of vital rights that protect people at work.

“Working people rely on this protection and they deserve the truth from the Leave campaign. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Priti Patel need to level with the British people and spell out exactly which of their rights would go if we leave.”

Benn and Eagle echo sentiment expressed by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell who have consistently warned an exit overseen by the Tories would be an opportunity for them to impose more of their austerity agenda.