O’GRADY FEARS ‘KAMIKAZE’ BREXIT
THE EU negotiating clock is ticking towards a “kamikaze” Brexit, the TUC general secretary warned yesterday.
Frances O’Grady accused Theresa May of having no action plan to protect jobs and employment rights.
Speaking on the opening day of the TUC conference, she said: “The Prime Minister is sticking to the same old script that she can get whatever she wants, that we can have all the same benefits of the single market without playing by the rules.
“This isn’t a grown-up negotiating position. It’s a letter to Santa.”
O’Grady urged all party leaders: “When it comes to Brexit, don’t box yourselves in. Keep all options on the table. And put jobs, rights and livelihoods first.”
Trade unionists have warned Brexit could turn Britain into a “sweatshop” economy, with UK workers no longer enjoying the rights other Europeans do.
Unite boss Len McCluskey told the conference the “reckless” Tory Government were putting tens of thousands of jobs in jeopardy with a hard Brexit.
He said: “Much of the Tory party just don’t care. It’s all collateral damage, as far as they’re concerned, on the highway to their low-wage, low-tax utopia.”
Delegates are expected to support motions calling for Britain to remain in the single market and customs union beyond the Brexit transition period.