Will a Brexit trigger a bonfire of workers' right?

WITH Britain's days as a member of the European Union now numbered, all parts of the EU will soon have to come to terms with the full implications of a Brexit. But while there are scores of questions, there are as yet few answers.

What will life be like north and south of the Border following the UK's departure from the EU? How will the mechanics of the UK's departure from the EU be negotiated with other member states and what controversies will play out as the Government at Westminster seeks to untangle long established relationships and common policy areas from a pan-European organisation vastly enlarged from the body it joined so many decades ago ?

There's also the question of what sort of nation the UK will become as it leaves the European project to become what the Brexiters insist will be a so-called "independent" nation - especially as it seems increasingly likely Scotland may not be part of the UK for much longer.

Like the Britain of the early 1970s that joined the EEC, the one that leaves its successor the EU, is one that faces an ongoing terror threat, this time from Islamic State rather than the IRA, and although not gripped by the same level of industrial unrest is scarred by a much higher level of inequality, poverty and austerity.

The UK Government negotiating Britain's way out of the EU will oversee the ripping-up of a massive raft of legislation related to employment law and employee rights that emanate from Brussels such as the Working Time Directive and the Social Chapter, a European threshold offering minimum standards on areas such as health and safety at work.

Brexit supporters repeatedly insisted during the referendum campaign that such rights would not be in jeopardy if the UK stood outside the EU and that no elected government would be likely to tear down protections that voters enjoy in the workplace.

However, it's worth pointing out how strongly the introduction of the Social Chapter was resisted by the Tories, with John Major's government making great play out of securing an opt-out from such directives during the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on greater European integration in the early 1990s.

There will be many people who will question whether a Tory government led by the likes of Boris Johnson or heavily influenced by Michael Gove can be trusted to safeguard employment protections enjoyed by workers in other EU member states.

Tory Prime Ministers of past and present have form when it comes to the erosion of workers' rights, which most recently included David Cameron increasing the timescale before a sacked employee can pursue a case for unfair dismissal from one year to two, as well as introducing fees that those who have been dismissed from their job must pay in order to take a case to an employment tribunal.

Major's government in the 1990s was forever stating how it's lower level of workplace regulation, with the lack of the Social Chapter - which was not signed up to until the Tories were replaced by Labour as the UK Government - made it a haven for companies to come and do business.

Trade unions will already fear that a Tory-led Government at Westminster would see itself as "unfettered" by EU directives on employee rights to make a similar approach to employers, with a "come and invest here and have cheaper labour costs" pitch to multinational companies.

There could also be concerns about what a Brexit would mean for gender equality and women's rights, should employee protection legislation be trampled over in a UK that sits outside the EU.

But it's not just in the area of workers' rights that controversy could rage, with the Brexit negotiating team also facing potential flashpoints over thorny issues such as access to waters surrounding other EU nations for fishing vessels.

Likewise the departure from the ever controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and EU payments to the agricultural sector is unlikely to be smoothly and painlessly resolved.

Independence referendum II and dealing with 'PM Johnson'

So there's the uncertainty about what a post Brexit UK will look like, but how will the conflict be resolved surrounding Scotland's place in the EU, after the electorate north of the Border voted by a decisive margin of 62 per cent to 38 per cent to Remain.

As things stand the SNP appears not to be deviating from the strategy of making as much 'mood music' as it possibly can about what Nicola Sturgeon said was the "highly likely" prospect of a second independence referendum to preserve Scotland's place in the EU.

Should Scottish public opinion show consistent support for a fresh independence vote, something the SNP leadership has said would be a pre-requisite, for a second referendum, there will be the tricky path of dealing with a Brexiteer Westminster on staging such a process.

Alex Salmond's second administration was locked in a protracted battle with Cameron's coalition government in its attempt to ensure a legally binding referendum on independence was held, a process that was only finally agreed between Salmond and Cameron nearly 18 months after the SNP won an overall majority at the 2011 election.

There will be fears that a Tory government, potentially led by Boris Johnson, the de-facto leader of the Brexit campaign, would refuse to repeat the temporary granting of the authority through a 'Section 30 order' as agreed by Cameron in late 2012.

Johnson or indeed any Tory leader may be inclined to argue that the SNP had no electoral mandate for a independence referendum, prompting the SNP government to stage its own vote in defiance of Westminster, a process that would inevitably lead to legal battles.

Scotland's accession to Europe

There may also be pressure for the UK Government and EU law making institutions to agree to Sturgeon's original demand of allowing the constituent parts of the UK that voted against Brexit - Scotland and Northern Ireland - to remain in the EU.

But again controversies from the 2014 independence referendum campaign could be revisited when there were claims by the No side that an independent Scotland would have to make a fresh application for EU membership, with the SNP counter-claiming that it would be a "successor state" that inherited membership due to its previous status as part of the UK.

Some Westminster politicians and opponents of independence may though be tempted to accept Scotland in its current form and Northern Ireland remaining in the EU, while the rest of the UK departs, in order to avoid a second referendum in Scotland.

The Greenland and Denmark Example

Senior SNP figures are reported to believe the precedent set by Scandinavia could provide the model for an independent Scotland taking the UK’s place in the 28 nation bloc.

Senior officials have previously confirmed it is be possible to redraw member state’s borders so only Scotland would be subject to EU treaties.

Such an action was carried out in the 1985 Greenland Treaty, which saw the devolved government in Greenland secede from the EU but still remain a part of Denmark.

The Faroe Islands, a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark, is also not part of the EU, as explicitly asserted by both Rome treaties.