SHADOW Chancellor John McDonnell unveiled his vision of “socialism with an iPad” yesterday, saying workers must benefit from Britain’s tech boom.

He said the popularity of apps such as Uber masked the “grim reality” of low-paid people working on zero-hours contracts in the “gig economy.”

Mr McDonnell conceded that “technological change, and the unfettered free market, are tearing up the old work contract” won by trade unions over generations.

“Millions of workers are excluded from the hard-won protections of formal employment contracts,” he said.

“And relentless pressure is placed on those, the majority, still protected.”

But the shadow chancellor pledged that a Labour government would offer a “new contract for a new workforces.”

He said: “We can break the stalemate and change course, [creating] a new economy where technology liberates rather than traps, where the fruits of scientific advance are shared by all.”

This new approach would see an end to zero-hours contracts, while workplace rights traditionally enjoyed only by public-sector workers would be extended to the private sector.

“White-van man — and woman — deserve just as much protection and recognition as white-collar workers,” he said.

Mr McDonnell said tax credits were also vital to low-wage workers in the new economy, calling for Chancellor George Osborne to drop his cuts plan.

And, ahead of Wednesday’s autumn statement, he hammered home the message that “austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity.”

He added: “Unless we change our political choices, the vast majority will be denied the opportunities that technological change presents.”

The shadow chancellor will address a trade union rally in London today, alongside former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.