THE government must urgently build on the Britain-EU trade deal which “falls far short” of what was promised, the TUC urged yesterday as the agreement was ratified.

A 10-point plan was set out by the union body to address shortcomings and “plug the gaps” in the trade deal in order to boost jobs, rights and public interests.

The call came as the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill was passed by Parliament, with 521 MPs voting in favour against 73 opposing it at the first hurdle.

Its committee stage was cleared unamended, lasting just minutes in the Commons due to a lack of time which meant none of the 14 pages of amendments were considered.

The Bill was then passed to the House of Lords, where the debate took place after the Star went to print, as the government sought to rush approval through Parliament in a day.

The TUC warned that the deal’s “flimsy” protections on workers’ rights would fail to prevent the government from “pursuing a deregulatory agenda.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This agreement falls far short of the deal the government promised.

“Ministers need to plug the gaps. A tough EU exit in the middle of a pandemic will hit workers hard when we already face the grim prospect of mass unemployment.

“If the government fails to build on this agreement, jobs will be at risk, hard-won rights will be on the line and our public services will be starved of much-needed investment.”

Ms O’Grady said Britain needs an industrial strategy “with real investment behind it” that creates “good quality green jobs.”

At least two Labour MPs resigned from their roles over the party’s decision to back the PM’s Brexit deal — and former party leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who defied the whip and voted against.

He said in a statement that the deal should not be supported as it “paves the way” for “very disadvantaged” trade deals with other countries and gives “a right-wing Tory government a chance to cut privatised deals, and rebalance our economy in favour of the Tories and their allies.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the Brexit agreement is a “bad deal,” but added that Labour MPs will “reluctantly vote” as the “alternative would be chaos.”

The deal will take effect at 11pm tonight when the Brexit transition period ends.