DAVID CAMERON stood accused of abandoning British workers yesterday after he refused to rule out attacks on working rights as part of his European Union renegotiation.

The Prime Minister spoke of cutting “red tape,” reducing the “burden on business” and “stripping back” regulation as he presented his deal on Britain’s membership to Parliament.

His comments stoked fears that Mr Cameron’s “competitiveness” agenda is being used a Trojan horse against EU working rights which affect Britain, known as “Social Europe” legislation.

Mr Cameron told MPs: “I said we wanted to make Europe more competitive and deal with the rule-making and bureaucracy that can cost jobs here in Britain and indeed across the EU.

“We asked for commitments in all the areas central to European competitiveness.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned it could be “a fig leaf for increasing pressure to privatise our public services and reduction of consumer standards, environmental protection or workers’ rights.”

The Prime Minister stopped short of naming which specific legislation he wants to overturn.

But bosses’ lobbying group CBI made its expectations explicitly clear in its analysis of the deal issued yesterday.

In a section titled “implications for business,” the group spell out how businesses would “like to see the opt-out from the Working Time Directive made permanent.”

Britain already opts out of the directives cap on working hours, but it guarantees breaks and holiday.

Rights for agency and part-time workers, along with health and safety laws, are also historic bugbears of big business that could be targeted as part of the renegotiation.

During the debate on the proposed deal, Labour MP Rachel Reeves asked the Prime Minister to assure MPs that “his renegotiation doesn’t affect important employment rights?”

But Mr Cameron said the renegotiation was “an opportunity now to make sure that single market legislation is proportionate.”

After the debate, Ms Reeves, a former shadow work and pensions secretary, expressed concerned about his comments and the consequences for the referendum result.

“It is crucial that renegotiation of our EU membership does not dilute those rights,” she told the Star.

“I am in favour of staying in the EU but Labour need to make a progressive case for Europe.”

Veteran Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins said it was clear that Mr Cameron was “listening to siren calls from big business to weaken worker rights even more, under the catch all of de-regulation.”

However he argued that the deal made no difference to the “anti-democratic, anti-socialist” EU.

The threat to workers’ rights was also discussed during a fiery debate about the reforms yesterday in the European Parliament.

Gianni Patella, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group, said: “We need more clarification (about the deal), particularly on the issue of workers’ rights where we are very concerned.”

Green MEP Molly Scott Cato clashed with Ukip leader Nigel Farage over the conduct of the party’s MEPs during the debate.