Posted in Europe

The case for Britain staying in the EU

EU_UK FlagsIt is now clear that a substantial section of the left in the Labour Party has come to the conclusion that the UK should leave the EU, a position enormously enhanced by the TUC statement this week that any deal involving a diminution in employment or social rights that Cameron won prior to the referendum would probably lead to trade unions adopting an exit position (Brexit).

Thankfully Jeremy Corbyn has now said that he cannot see Labour adopting such a position, although it might have avoided some problems if that had been made plain earlier.

The TUC position is senseless. Voting for ‘Brexit’ cannot possibly enhance the likelihood of winning the next election for Labour, and that should be the only criterion. Indeed the reverse might well be the case, as it would be populist xenophobia and nationalism that would win the day, which would suit the Conservatives. Continue reading →

Labour’s policy on EU must force Cameron to address public aspirations and concerns

Juncker & Cameron with EU flagIt is fairly clear, even among Europhiles who want to stay in, what most people object to about the current state of the EU and what they would like to see changed.

  • The membership fee is uncomfortably large, some £11bn every year.
  • Free movement of labour works well between countries of similar living standards, but not between countries at very different levels of economic development.
  • The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy still take 40% of the entire EU budget, and cause considerable resentment in many countries, including the UK.
  • Most people, including most businesses, support free trade, but doubt whether the Single Market is worth the bureaucracy it generates.
  • It is widely felt that the EU is too regulatory and too protectionist.
  • Not many people in the UK want to see Britain becoming part of a federal United States of Europe, but that’s the direction favoured by many of Europe’s leaders.

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Why the Euro is the gold standard writ large…

Microsoft Word - AnnNew2.docxThe euro not only replicated key elements of the gold standard – but went much further: European currencies were simply abolished. States lost control over both their currency and their central bank. Parallels with the operation of the gold standard explain why, like the gold standard, the euro will fail.

The euro system denies monetary policy autonomy to states, and like the gold standard, insists on full capital mobility, over-values the shared currency, creates a sense of euphoria and excess when introduced into a new state; then applies deflationary pressures on indebted states, and like the gold standard encourages nationalisms, protectionism and political resistance: the very opposite of the liberalizing motives of its architects.

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Three-quarters of jobs created in UK went to workers from EU

EU migrationUK unemployment, which is still as high as 1,850,000, is now starting to rise again. Combined with the jobs standstill, the lack of momentum in pay makes this the most worrying set of labour market figures for a long time. What is equally disturbing is that almost all the increase in employment since the 2008-9 crash has been accounted for by workers from the EU. Employment among EU citizens born outside the the UK has now risen above 2 million for the first time. The latest figures point to falling demand for jobs, fewer hours being worked, and little or no evidence of a rise in pay. Continue reading →

Austerity is a hard untruth for Europe to swallow

MerkelTsiprasThe most galling aspect of the Conservative Party’s ongoing political success is that its all-important austerity narrative is objectively, straightforwardly untrue. Every Conservative politician of note must be fully aware of this, and there are no words to describe the cynicism that it requires to keep trotting out the flagrant lie, year in, year out. The imposition of harsher austerity in the government’s first two years was almost certainly related to the choking-off of growth in that time; in the course of 2012 and 2013, the Treasury quietly sidestepped into the milder fiscal approach advocated by Labour in 2010.

Public sector and welfare cuts have had devastating humanitarian impacts, but the government still sends vast amounts of money sloshing through the economy through Quantitative Easing and other approved channels. David Cameron and George Osborne have carved out a political existence based on a policy which neither man either believes in or has ever fully implemented. Continue reading →