Mandelson to fight for 48-hour opt-out

MINISTERS today vowed to defeat moves to abolish Britain's opt-out from European working hours limits.

Lord Mandelson said it would be "absurd" to stop firms and employees choosing to work longer than the maximum 48 hours in France and Germany.

"Millions of employees and businesses in the UK and Europe have benefited from freedom of choice on working hours for many years," he said. "To take that choice away would be absurd. We're determined to protect the opt out. Our focus is on helping businesses and employees through these testing times - not making their lives harder."

Unions were delighted that the opt-out, which they say exposes workers to being bullied into working longer, was under threat following a 421-273 vote at the European Parliament to scrap it.

The vote was backed by 13 of Britain's 19 Labour MEPs.

The opt-out secured by John Major in 1993 is used by 14 EU countries. But France and Germany complain it makes Britain more attractive to investors.