In an attack on what he calls the "Polly Toynbee left" (Report, 18 April), employment minister Chris Grayling says he is "baffled" by "red tape" from Brussels. Let me try and explain things. Firstly, all over the industrialised world, from the US to Japan, and in the UK before we joined the EU, there are and were health and safety regulations. The EU creates a mechanism for agreeing certain minimum health and safety standards which translates into trading on a tariff-free level playing field, which in turn translates into millions of jobs in the UK. EU directives are the result of governments and trade associations asking for the commission to propose agreed regulations and standards, which are then agreed first by elected MEPs and then by governments.
Grayling then goes on to quote a story from the Sun and the Daily Mail about hairdressers. The European commission has not in fact come up with proposals for hairdressers. Under the aegis of the economic and social committee (a separate organisation for employers' organisations and trade unions), the European Association of Hairdressing Salons and the European association of unions that includes hairdressing (UNI Europa) did indeed recently agree on minimum health and safety standards. It has no force of law.
Before Grayling make speeches as a government minister, he should do more research than simply reading the Sun. Sadly, the European commission office in London has to employ full-time staff to deal with euromyths, and Grayling's staff and other ministerial staff would do well to consult it before repeating them. It is right that we should debate the UK's relationship with continental Europe – but let's make it an informed debate.
Glenis Willmott
Leader of the Labour MEPs