The right to participate in free elections, the right to receive and share information to form an opinion, the right to free expression and the right to freedom of belief are all human rights that have been lauded by the victors in the EU referendum. So it seems unlikely these rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) will be dumped, as initially threatened, when the UK Government launches a ‘Bill if Rights’ consultation.

Instead the draft Bill may be the vehicle to explicitly exclude some EU economic and social rights which many of us believe create a fairer society but dismissed by some as "stifling" economic growth. In an effort to compensate for self-inflicted economic instability, will we be sold a line it is workers’ rights that must be sacrificed for the greater economic good?

To avoid any confusion, the ECHR is part of the framework of the Council of Europe, a quite different body from the EU, so the referendum vote should have no impact.

The UK conservative government fulfilled a manifesto pledge to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights by including it in the Queen’s speech in 2015 and then again in 2016. The delay was a mixture of internal government politics as well as the potentially insurmountable problems for a Unionist party undermining the devolution settlement.

The Scottish Government resolutely opposes abolition of the Human Rights Act, which is part of the Scotland Act, and will refuse to pass a legislative consent motion facilitating its demise. The Good Friday Agreement promised a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland which is not yet delivered. In such a climate, "consulting fully on the proposals" will serve as a vehicle to emphasise the growing policy differences within the UK as well as expose broken promises.

The UN has sought clarification on whether the proposed Bill "will provide adequate protection of all the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" such as "the right to an adequate standard of living", "the right to just and favourable conditions of work", the right to social assistance schemes and action to "prevent the blacklisting of trade union members".

However these examples sum up the problem for many politicians – rights empower people as they bestow an entitlement. This shift in power sits uncomfortably with those who want to retain absolute control over the spend of public resources and sole authority to decide on the detail of public services such as which disabled people can access which welfare benefits.

A positive human rights strategy is possible in Scotland, regardless of any UK regression on rights. A framework is coming to fruition which focuses political attention on our 10,000 public sector duty bearers. In December 2014 Scotland’s National Action Plan on Human Rights was launched with three strands: Better Lives, Better Culture and Better World and delivery group members are drawn from many sectors including health and enterprise.

In December 2015 the First Minister announced human rights would feature in the National Performance Framework to improve people’s quality of life. On June 1 the Scottish Parliament voted to extend the remit of the Equal Opportunities Committee to include human rights. Although still to be formalised, the committee will include human rights in its work plan which will be discussed over the summer.

The private sector is also on the radar as the Scottish Government has commissioned a baseline assessment on business and human rights in line with the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is a precursor to developing a national action plan for business located in Scotland.

Many who campaigned to leave the EU because it undermines our sovereignty also believe the detail and impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights can be negative and argue “cutting workplace regulation” could create new jobs.

I believe its impact is positive whether it is delivering paid holidays, anti-discrimination legislation, maternity leave, paternity leave, and access to environmental information.

A legacy of the campaign is that our economic and social rights maybe up for grabs and it remains to be seen how far the new devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament can protect us from UK attacks on workers’ rights.

Carole Ewart is a public policy and human rights consultant and Convener of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland