Project Fear 2: EU briefing paper says that Brexit will give you cancer

BRUSSELS has launched its own Project Fear by suggesting British workers will be at a higher risk of cancer as a result of Brexit.

A briefing paper says that if the UK dilutes EU health and safety laws to “lower production costs”, there will be “higher exposure to chemicals and carcinogens”. But David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, will today hit back, pouring scorn on the idea of a “dystopian” postbrexit Britain akin to Mad Max films.

Britain wants to create a “race to the top” in quality and standards that will create “trust” in a future trading relationship and ensure that trade is “as frictionless as possible”, he will say. He will tell business leaders in Austria that he is “certain” of a good deal and will rail against any EU scaremongering.

He is understood to be particularly irked by the claim made in an EC document published on Jan 31 that suggests Britain could reduce “levels of occupational safety and health”, with a reference to “higher exposure to chemicals and carcinogens resulting in lower production costs”. Whitehall sources said yesterday that the EC was “trying to say that Brexit gives you cancer”.

In a combative speech in Vienna, Mr Davis will say: “We will continue our track record of meeting high standards after we leave.

“I know that for one reason or another there are some people who have sought to question that these are our intentions. They fear Brexit could lead to an Anglo-saxon race to the bottom with Britain plunged into a Mad Maxstyle world borrowed from dystopian fiction. These are based on nothing, not history, not intention, nor interest.”

Meanwhile, the Government has drawn up a secret plan to withhold billions in Brexit bill payments to force the EU to give Britain the trade deal it wants, according to Bloomberg News.