SCOTS have been warned independence is their only hope of avoiding a “race to the bottom” on worker’s rights after the UK Business Secretary let slip his government is considering an overhaul.
Ministers denied last week that they were looking to erode EU directives on the 48-hour week, breaks and holiday entitlements.
But Kwasi Kwarteng has now admitted that his department is conducting a consultation on such rules with business leaders.
READ MORE: Tories plan to 'sledgehammer' workers' rights and end 48-hour working week limit
Labour said the Business Secretary had let the "cat out of the bag", while the SNP accused the UK Government of plotting an “assault on protections that millions of workers depend on”.
Kwarteng made the admission under questioning from the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, though he insisted protections would not be watered down.
Asked whether the consultation on workers’ rights was taking place, he said: "I think the view was that we wanted to look at the whole range of issues relating to our EU membership and examine what we wanted to keep, if you like.
"But I will say now to you that we are absolutely committed, I think we can have a very, very strong, very powerful economy based on you know net zero, the Prime Minister's 10-point plan and also having really high standard for workers and high employment and a high wage economy.
"That's what I am focusing on and so the idea that we are trying to whittle down standards, I think is not at all plausible or true."
Pressed specifically about the working time directive, which sets the 48-hour working week standard, the Tory minister claimed several EU countries had opted out and insisted the UK's working standards were superior to other European countries'.
Yet only five countries have an opt-out of the time directive that applies to all sectors – of which the UK is one. Eleven other countries have limited opt-outs for specific sectors, mostly applying to doctors and medical staff.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband commented: "After dismissing media reports and promising the Government has no plans to rip up workers' rights, Kwasi Kwarteng has now let the cat out of the bag and admitted that they are conducting a review of those rights – including opting out of the 48-hour week which protects workers in key sectors like the NHS, road haulage and airlines from working excessive hours."
He said the proposal exposed that the Government's priorities "are totally wrong", adding: "Neither workers nor business want ministers to take a wrecking ball to the hard-won rights of working people and families."
SNP shadow business secretary Drew Hendry said independence is now Scots’ only possible escape route.
"Despite initially dismissing the reports of watering down rights, the Business Secretary has now confirmed the Tory government's intention to 'review' workers' rights post-Brexit – threatening a Tory race to the bottom in standards,” he said.
"If the Tories were intent on protecting workers' rights then they would simply maintain those that were already enshrined in EU law – rather than ploughing ahead with a review and selecting what they want to keep.
"The harsh reality is that the Tories' empty pledge to protect rights is, as feared, nothing more than smoke and mirrors – with this review paving the way for an assault on protections that millions of workers depend on.”
READ MORE: There's no place for workers' rights in the dogma of the Tory party
The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP added: "With each day that passes the damage being inflicted by the Tories' Brexit deal upon businesses and jobs becomes clearer.
“There is nothing the Tories say on Brexit that can be trusted – time after time they have shown they will break any promise and sell out any group of workers no matter the cost.
"It's clear beyond any doubt that the only way to protect Scotland's interests and workers is to become an independent country and in the EU."
Kwarteng was also forced to answer awkward questions about allegations made in a book published in 2012 which he co-authored.
Britannia Unchained, a collection of essays which included contributions from Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Home Secretary Priti Patel and International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, claimed British workers as the "worst idlers in the world".
The Business Secretary: "A book written by a bunch of backbench MPs you know nearly 10 years ago, I don’t think is particularly relevant to the kind of problems and issues that we face."
According to the initial report by the Financial Times, proposals in the UK Government’s review relate to rules about breaks at work, as well as removing overtime pay when calculating certain holiday pay entitlements.
Other suggestions are said to include scrapping the requirement for businesses to log information about daily working hours in order to save on administration costs.
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