Jeremy Corbyn attacked “hype and histrionic claims” in the EU debate and insisted Labour was getting its Remain message out “as loudly as we can”.
The Labour leader said the EU could “deliver positive change” on issues ranging from mobile phone charges to clean beaches and protecting bees.
But he called for reform and pledged to oppose the new EU-US trade deal.
It comes after a major union leader said he needed to do more to engage Labour voters in the Remain campaign.
The GMB’s Tim Roache said Mr Corbyn was a “half-hearted” supporter of the EU.
In a speech in London, Mr Corbyn said there was an “overwhelming” case to remain in the EU, and called for “a Europe of co-operation and solidarity”.
Labour had a “distinct agenda” from that of the government, which also backs Remain, he said.
He criticised media coverage and warnings made by both sides of the debate, saying it had been dominated too much by “myth-making and prophecies of doom”.
Responding to criticism that his campaigning was half-hearted, Mr Corbyn listed the cities he was due to visit, said there were no “no go areas” and insisted that the intensity of Labour’s campaigning would grow as polling day gets nearer.
“I don’t think anyone is going to be in any doubt what our views are come 23 June… we are getting our message out,” he said.
There are just weeks to go until the UK decides on its future in the European Union, in the in-out referendum on 23 June.
The Remain campaign believes that securing the support of Labour voters will be vital to winning the referendum.
Work and pay
The debate
- Unemployment is over 10% in the EU, almost double the rate in the UK
- Some workers’ rights are guaranteed by EU laws but tax rates, benefits and the minimum wage are down to UK government decisions
Leave
- Less regulation in the workplace would create more jobs
- Maternity leave and holiday pay would only change if Britain decided to change them
- The UK could get more investment from countries outside the EU
- Lower migration would push wages up
Remain
- Three million jobs in the UK are linked to trade with the EU
- The EU has delivered guaranteed holiday pay, paid maternity leave, and increased protection in the workplace
- The UK gets £66m investment every day from the EU
EU referendum issues guide: Explore the arguments
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But there have been anxieties within the Remain camp that Labour voters might not turn out to vote – in a close contest levels of turnout can be decisive.
In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, the new leader of the GMB union, Tim Roache, said his “biggest concern” was that Labour voters would “stay at home” on 23 June.
“I think they won’t see it as the absolutely crucial vote that it is and I also think that they see it as a bunfight in the Tory party,” he said.
Asked whether he thought Labour was doing enough to get its pro-Remain message across, he said it “is starting to do more”.
But he argued that a bigger push was needed, warning: “The reality is that the more people that stay at home the more likely it is that we will leave the EU. I don’t think we can even begin to contemplate that.”
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GMB
Image caption
Tim Roache won the GMB leadership contest with 56.7% of the vote
By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor
It’s rare these days – especially as the referendum debate rages with both sides to varying degrees struggling to tell the public the truth, the whole truth, and absolutely nothing but the truth – that political figures are willing to say exactly what they think in public.
But the union movement, in the recently elected boss of the GMB, Tim Roache, might just have found themselves someone who might.
He’s worked for the union for decades, starting as a teenager in the post room. But after years of working his way up, now he’s in charge, Roache is clearly determined to change things.
And in an interview with me for Radio 4’s World at One programme, he didn’t hold back.
On Jeremy Corbyn – who has been urged to make a bolder case for staying in the UK – Mr Roache said he viewed the Labour leader as “a half-hearted Remain” but urged the party to get behind him and campaign vigorously to stay in the EU.
“I think he probably could do a bit more, let’s hope he will,” he said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Labour’s Mary Creagh said she had been contacted by party supporters asking what its position was on the EU referendum.
Labour should treat the referendum “as though it was a general election campaign”, she added.
Labour’s welfare spokesman Owen Smith told the programme Mr Corbyn understood the need to make a “to make a strong Labour case” in the EU debate.
In his speech at the Institute of Engineering Technology on Thursday, Mr Corbyn – who has been a long-standing critic of the EU and who is regarded as the most Eurosceptic Labour leader in years – said British workers benefit from a host of rights and protections because of EU legislation.
He said the European social chapter and other EU directives had secured:
- 28 days of paid leave and a limit on working hours for more than 26 million employees
- Eight million part-time workers being given equal rights with full-time colleagues
- One million temporary employees have the same rights as their permanent colleagues
- Guaranteed maternity leave rights that are used by 340,000 women every year
“It’s important to understand the benefit of these gains,” he said. “It means workers throughout Europe have decent rights at work, meaning it’s harder to undercut terms and conditions across Europe.”
Image copyright
Getty Images
Image caption
Labour MP Gisela Stuart says workers’ rights should be protected by an accountable UK parliament
Mr Corbyn also tackled the issue of immigration – saying government austerity policies since 2010 had been the cause of problems for communities with high immigration rather than the migrants themselves who, he said, often worked in public services such as the NHS.
But Leave campaigners, including Vote Leave’s Ms Stuart, say the EU has been “a disaster” for workers, pointing out that unemployment levels across the eurozone are “in the double digits”.
The Labour MP has also dismissed Remain’s argument that workers’ rights have been secured by Europe.
“Workers’ rights are not something that have been gifted to us by the EU, they have been hard won here at home and should be protected by a Parliament that is properly accountable to voters in the UK.”
She has said the only way to “take back control of our economy, our democracy” is to leave the EU.
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Labour"s getting EU view across - Corbyn
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