Brexit '˜would harm jobs, wages and prices'

The Prime Minister and the ex-Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary acknowledged they were unlikely allies but the “special circumstances” of the EU referendum meant the “rules of conventional politics” could be temporarily set aside.

They warned that Brexit would leave the UK “a poorer country in every sense” but a vote to remain in the EU on June 23 would result in a “bright future” with more jobs, higher pay and lower prices. In a joint article the pair highlighted analysis by accountancy giant PwC which suggested unemployment could rise to 8 per cent if there was a Brexit, compared to 5 per cent if the country stays in the EU.

Even if people kept their jobs “their wages will be lower than they would otherwise have been” because of the damage to productivity, while workers’ rights would also be jeopardised. They wrote that “while the two of us may disagree about quite how far this process should go, being in Europe has helped to deliver many of the crucial rights that underpin fairness at work”.

Brexit would also weaken the pound meaning “more expensive goods and higher inflation”, they said. “So we are likely to see the cost of living going up, just as wages are being squeezed and jobs lost. That is the threat for families already struggling to make ends meet - and a risk that working people and the poorest in our country simply cannot afford.” The pair took a swipe at Vote Leave figurehead Michael Gove, who has suggested the UK could enjoy a trading relationship with Europe similar to that of Albania.

Vote Leave condemned the article by Mr Cameron and Sir Brendan. A spokesman said: “Two members of the political establishment doing down the British economy is nothing to be proud of.”

Pro-Brexit Employment Minister Priti Patel is to promise cuts to red tape if the country votes to leave.