Nick Clegg has not had a good press for his performance in last week’s BBC TV debate on Europe against Nigel Farage. Clegg is now widely considered to have lost the debate. Indeed, there were certainly some major defects in his performance. For example, Clegg allowed Farage to go virtually unchallenged on his argument that the European Union was anti-worker. On free movement of workers in the European Union, Farage argued that the EU was ‘good for the rich because it’s cheaper nannies and cheaper chauffeurs and cheaper gardeners but it’s bad news for ordinary Britons.’
This presented Clegg with the opportunity to open up a debate on the European labour market. He failed to seize it. He did not even mention the Social Chapter by name. He omitted to mention any of the European legislation that has enhanced the rights of working people, both in the UK and across Europe. These are not mere academic points of little consequence: working people have better protection at work as a consequence of Britain being in Europe.
The ‘Social Europe’ agenda has been an important part of the European project. The single market was a key aim, but it was not achieved without a basic floor of workers’ rights being established in member states. Jacques Delors, as president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, drove the agenda forward, and provoked Margaret Thatcher into making her infamous ‘Bruges speech’ on the future of Europe in September 1988.
European directives cover a very wide range of issues. Men and women have to be treated the same way under the Equal Pay and Equal Treatment Directives. This principle of equality has also been extended into occupational pension schemes. Maternity rights are protected: 14 weeks of leave, paid time off for antenatal appointments during working hours; and workers cannot be sacked on the grounds that they are pregnant. The EU has an admirable commitment to ending gender-based violence and it promotes that message around the world.
The Working Time Directive guards against unduly lengthy working hours, providing for compulsory rest periods and holidays. Workers on fixed-term contracts and part-time workers have also benefitted from European law: there are measures to protect employees from being condemned to one arbitrary fixed-term contract after another, and part-time workers should not be treated less favourably than full-time workers simply because they work fewer hours. On collective redundancies, European law provides a framework for information-sharing and proper consultation. The Temporary Agency Worker Directive offers protection on issues like pay and holidays after 12 weeks.
United Kingdom Independence party members of the European parliament do not always attend the parliament, but when they do they oppose better employment rights for workers. What Clegg failed to bring out in last week’s debate is that it is Ukip that is ‘bad news for ordinary Britons’.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds is the author of Attlee: A Life in Politics. He writes the Labour history column for Progress and tweets @NThomasSymonds
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