It's an excellent argument for staying in the EU because the EU insists on workers' rights, decent working conditions and fair pay. A model to aspire to, sure enough, not always achieved, nonetheless a model for how we should want the countries we trade with to behave. Seems to me that being "competitive" to some people means being ruthlessly exploitative. So let's ditch the EU and trade more with countries that are more "competitive" because they use child labour, force people to work in dangerous conditions, pay them next to nothing, deny them the rights that we take for granted...we can always turn an expedient blind eye, and, anyway, the poor have always got Poundland and Primark. Now lessee where they buy their goods from...

We didn't ditch our big industries because they were uncompetitive. We ditched them because most of the workers didn't vote Tory and kept being annoying by demanding fair pay and conditions, and, anyway, let's have an economy based on the activities of unregulated City spivs who made themselves and a select few filthy rich and the cheerleaders for me-first, and well, if those non-doms and other mega-rich offshore tax-evaders want to hold the country to ransom (now where have I heard that before...), we can always treat them gently...