Socialism can never be delivered while we remain in the EU’s capitalist club
4 min read
The Prime Minister has given us a botched deal. But the British people believe we will be better off out – and Labour must listen, writes Ronnie Campbell
The Brexit shambles just goes on and on. My own position has been clear from the start – I voted out because I could not stomach the cosy, corrupt club for billionaires and bureaucrats that the EU had become.
I knew that there would have to be some compromise, as any good trade union negotiator knows. I knew that we do not always get everything we want.
What I did not fully expect was the current chaos the best part of three years after 60 per cent of my Blyth Valley constituents voted Leave.
Some of my Labour comrades want a second referendum to reverse the first one. Why? The people spoke clearly, and we must deliver on that.
I am a life-long socialist and know too well that socialism could never be delivered while we remain in this capitalist club run by unelected bureaucrats.
There was never anything socialist about the EU – it was first created during the Cold War to revive the pre-war industrial monopolies of France, Germany, and Belgium.
France and Germany have hidden behind the EU to inflict endless austerity on Greece, Italy and other potential competitors.
My hope is that a future Labour government in our country will renationalise the railways, water and power so that decent services can be provided rather than filling the swollen bank accounts of often-overseas fat cats. Within the EU, there is not much chance of that.
Industries within the EU can be nationalised, but only when the alternative is complete economic meltdown. EU directives insist on competition being maintained in all public utilities and services. Corporate lawyers, through the European Court of Justice, can penalise any state, which tries to find a way around the directives.
Trade union collective bargaining has plummeted across all EU countries because greedy bosses and multi-national corporations can hide behind such directives to benefit the few, not the many.
I want to take back control of UK laws, taxes, budgets, and public spending.
There is a lot of scaremongering about how bad it will be for the UK if there is no deal, but it will equally be as bad for the EU if that were to happen.
Under the pathetic deal Theresa May brought back from Brussels after years of “negotiations”, my constituents who voted Leave will have two feet in and an arm out.
During the interim Brexit period, we will have to agree with all EU legislation without any say and can never leave without the agreement of the EU.
The Tory government claims it is taking back control but instead it will be ceding control for 21 months and very possibly longer. There will be no UK presence in the European Parliament, at the top table of the European Commission or in the European Court of Justice.
The UK will have no formal say in making or amending EU rules and regulations, but it will have to follow them to the letter.
Then there is the £39bn “divorce” bill the EU expects us to pay over a number of years. Part of that money will be the financial contribution that the UK has to make during the transition period – £10.8bn this year alone. Just think what we could do with that money in the North East to reverse the disintegration of our health, care, and education services.
These are failed negotiations, a botched deal. Nobody likes it – neither Leavers nor Remainers – yet given the prime minister’s shaky grip on power; we may have to accept it.
Mrs May fudged over the Customs Union, the security of our borders and where exactly we’ll be in terms of trade with the EU and the rest of the world. And fudge is not what the voters voted for in 2016.
As a Labour politician, I welcome the Tories getting their comeuppance. As someone who is proud of my community, my region, and my country, it is a crying shame.
I have listened hard to my constituents and a majority believe we will be better off out than in. I wish more of my comrades and parliamentary colleagues would do the same.
Ronnie Campbell is Labour MP for Blyth Valley
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