With his speech last week, Ed Miliband began to even out what for far too long has been
a lop-sided debate on Europe, and in my opinion demonstrated a sight more
leadership and insight than David Cameron in taking a credible and principled
position on the subject.
I would
class myself as a Euro-phile within limits. I think the EU can feel bloated and
bureaucratic. I’ve never really
understood how the Euro was supposed to have a hope of being successful within
the EU’s current format, and I’ve no appetite for moves towards a more formal European
federalism.
I do, however,
have a Socialist inclination towards co-operation and partnership, and share Ed
Miliband’s belief that Britain has a much stronger voice in the world as a key
and active player in a strong European community of nations, than as the
eccentric detached island closing its curtains on the huge sphere of influence and
opportunities developing on its doorstep.
I also think
the economic case for the EU is pretty compelling, which raises the question of
why an existential crisis to our membership is needed before it is robustly
made; 50% of all of our overseas investment comes from within the EU, contributing
3.5 million jobs to our economy. We also benefit from significant reductions in
the price of consumer goods due to the lack of border tariffs across member
states. There are amazing opportunities for our young people, such as
all-expenses-paid apprenticeships in countries such as Germany which on average
pay twice as much as apprenticeships in this country.
As is their
custom, the Tory leadership have sought to spin an extremely stretched truth
when it comes to Europe. Their customary house cocktail of arrogance, ignorance
and manipulation has led to them seeking to portray the divide on Europe as
being a straight choice between a clear, principle and considered Conservative
offer of a referendum to a public utterly desperate to detach us from the EU,
with a muddled, confused and spineless denial by a Labour Party seeking to
preserve the status quo in contempt of the general public.
This could
not be further from the truth, and represents another misconception which we
cannot allow to settle in the minds of the electorate. This is a fight that
David Cameron had absolutely no intention of ever picking. At the 2006 Conservative
Party Conference, he famously gave a succinct diagnosis of why the Tories spent
so long destined for opposition – “while parents worried about childcare,
getting the kids to school, balancing work and family life – we were banging on
about Europe”. Not bad advice Dave.
His decision to
hap-hazardly take on the EU, and from there promise a referendum, was not a
bold and principled move by the Conservative leadership, but a panicked political
response to the threat posed by Nigel Farage and his own back-benchers. In a
hall-mark of Cameron’s premiership, demonstrated on issues ranging from energy tariffs
to payday loans, Syria to Cornish Pasties, when faced with pressure the Prime
Minister blinked.
On the other
hand, in a hallmark of Ed Miliband’s tenure as Leader of the Opposition, he
demonstrated the same calmness and strength of principle that has typified his
response to the major issues of this Parliament, from phone-hacking to trade
union reform. It’s a level-headed, credible and mature approach to reform which
will carry much more weight on the negotiating table with EU leaders compared
to Cameron’s theatrics and grandstanding.
No matter
how the Tories try to spin his position as one which takes the country into a
muddled state of the unknown, Miliband has given us a much clearer and certain vision
for our country to take to the doorstep than the Conservatives have. We will be
the party fully committed to focusing on saving the NHS, getting our young people
into work, solving the cost of living crisis, growing the economy, and looking to use and enhance the EU as an asset in these fights. It is the Conservatives who
are looking to take us into the unknown by proposing 24 months of uncertainty and navel-gazing following 2015, continuing to talk down the EU and weakening their own
negotiating hand for reform, and staking the multi-billion pound benefits it
brings on a narrow political interest.
What’s even
more dangerous for Cameron, is that this euro-sceptic market which he appeals
to is showing signs of fading. I’d still expect UKIP to do well under the
showpiece spotlight of European elections, but a Reuters poll last week showed
that the potential “in” camp for any referendum had overtaken support in
comparison to the “out” group, with the former recording a swing of 25 point
swing on the latter since 2012. Therefore the second part of the Tory narrative
on the EU, the idea of Labour defying and denying an entire nation baying for
European blood, is also exaggerated to say the least.
Miliband has
made a big stride in defending our future in the EU. Over the next couple of
months, the man who is probably equally as important in making this argument
stick is Nick Clegg as he takes on Nigel Farage head-to-head. I’d expect Clegg
to do well; despite his faults I think he’s an extremely capable debater and a
decent leader, and Farage has it all to lose. It’s ironic that a policy that
could be so influential on our general election prospects is now partially dependent
on the person who ensured that this dreadful government came to power.
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