Hilary Benn to feature in key Brexit debate on workers’ rights and Christianity

A Christian Labour MP has warned against making “morality the slave of economics” in the run-up to a high-profile debate on Brexit and social justice featuring Hilary Benn.

The event, Business in Brexit Britain – avoiding the race to the bottom, is this year’s “Tawney dialogue”, hosted by Christians on the Left. It will also feature Ann Pettifor, director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME).

Benn, chair of the Brexit select committee, served as environment secretary in the last Labour government, and was shadow foreign secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, until being sacked in the aftermath of the EU referendum last year.

Pettifor has served on the economic advisory committee set up by Corbyn and John McDonnell but was among five advisors who used a statement on LabourList to criticise the party leader’s efforts in the EU referendum.

Jonathan Reynolds, the chair of Christians on the Left, said next week’s event would consider how to protect workers amid withdrawal from the EU.

“This government runs the serious risk of destroying workers rights and environmental protections in a desperate bid to lure businesses to a post-Brexit Britain. We must avoid this race to the bottom.

“As Christians on the Left we believe that people are more than just economic units, and that a society must be measured by more than its GDP. Making morality the slave of economics (and a very narrow version of economics at that) takes us down a very dangerous path.”

This year’s Tawney Dialogue is at 6:45pm on Wednesday 5 April, at Westminster Central Hall, SW1H 9NH. You can find details here.