Paris Olympics labour scandal shows why Remainer claims on workers rights were ‘untrue’

France: Protests take place on Worker's Day in Paris

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Throughout the Brexit negotiations Labour MPs and other Remainer repeatedly claimed the only way to guarantee workers rights was to stay in the EU. But last night Brexiteers seized on the allegations about a subcontractor at the Paris Olympics as proof the argument was yet another untrue claim to keep Britain tied to the bloc. They are also planning on launching another attack over Government plans to take advantage of Brexit in the Queen’s speech bills which Labour MPs and trade unions already claim will undermine workers rights.

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen, one of the brexit Tory Spartans who held out against theresa May’s deal, said: “Time and time again during the Brexit debate I heard EUrophiles telling me that we could only protect workers by being members of the European Union club, in their cloud cuckoo world it seems that freedom means a race to the bottom.

“Yet what we discover is undocumented migrants are being used to deliver major public projects in the heart of Monsieur Macron’s capital city.

“It’s clear evidence that the European Union is not the path to the highest employment standards and workers protections no matter how much they want to wave their European flags. 

“In Britain we now have the freedom to offer the best protections to our British workers.”

He added: “The best guarantee of higher wages and working conditions was delivered with the end to free movement and the strong demand for Labour we now see in the independent UK.”

Fellow Tory Brexiteer MP Peter Bone added: “It might even be worse and they might be slave labour. I hope the authorities really investigate this. I would not be at all surprised if the undocumented workers are the victims of human trafficking.”

The allegations that Britain needed the EU to protect workers rights was always disputed because many workers’ rights were better in the UK than in the other 27 member states including paternity and maternity leave.

Some of the rights actually originated in the UK and were exported to the EU.

He added: “The best guarantee of higher wages and working conditions was delivered with the end to free movement and the strong demand for Labour we now see in the independent UK.”

Fellow Tory Brexiteer MP Peter Bone added: “It might even be worse and they might be slave labour. I hope the authorities really investigate this. I would not be at all surprised if the undocumented workers are the victims of human trafficking.”

The allegations that Britain needed the EU to protect workers rights was always disputed because many workers’ rights were better in the UK than in the other 27 member states including paternity and maternity leave.

Some of the rights actually originated in the UK and were exported to the EU.

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Robert Oulds from the Impact thinktank said: “The bogus claim repeatedly made by Remainers that staying in the EU was the only way to protect workers’ rights was clearly totally ridiculous.

British standards and protections exceed those set by the European Union. 

“Working people in Britain know that aim of Brexit is about the opportunity to get a well-paying job. 

“Indeed, Remainers’ like Lord Rose campaigned for a low-wage economy. 

“Far from some employment Nirvana countries like France just want to continue exploiting the vulnerable while pretending that they care about migrants.”

He also suggested that by providing poor conditions for workers the French Olympics could be having a knock on effect on the Channel migrant illegal crossings in small boats.

The Paris Olympics allegations could rock President Emmanuel Macron’s Government just after he won power again.

L’Equipe and Tellerreport both reported details of the allegations following an inspection late last year on the St Denis site for the Olympic park by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT).

Tellerreport noted: “A dozen undocumented workers have been identified on the site of the athletes’ village planned for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games following a check carried out at the end of last week.”

“As soon as we learned that a subcontractor company was possibly employing undocumented migrants, we contacted the Dijop (interministerial delegation of the Paris Olympics), and the State services took charge of the file,” said Bernard Thibault of CGT told Tellerreport.

The Olympics delivery company Solideo said: “We do not have a formal return from the labor inspectorate, but if the facts were proven, Solideo will strongly condemn them, such practices being contrary to labor law.

“It is also also contrary to the spirit of the Olympics. We are going to contact all the project owners to remind them of their obligations.”

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