What is your role in this campaign?
This is a cross-party campaign and I’m
one of the political champions – there are
various Labour MPs who are doing this.
We work closely together and, for example,
if they have a request for a speaker at
an event they might come to me.
The ‘out’ campaign got started a
little faster than you - why is that?
Well at least we have one campaign.
They are much more divided. There’s no
division on our side. And to be honest
the general public haven’t really started
focussing on this yet because we don’t
know when the referendum’s going to be.
But it’s really important to start building
the case. We have a range of voices, which
will help us speak to different types of
people, but I don’t have an overall assessment
of how it’s going as yet. The Prime
Minister has to come back with a deal
before the date can be announced.
Do you face a difficult task, due to
years of bad UK press for Europe?
I think we’ve got to make sure we’re on
the front foot about the benefits of our
membership. The top-level message is
that Britain is safer, stronger and more
prosperous as a member of the European
Union. But it’s all to play for. The polls
seem to show overall that there’s probably
a third who will vote in and a third
who will vote out and a third who are
undecided who we need to target.
The other side say coming out would
save Britain money – is it true?
We do pay into the EU budget, but we
get influence as a result – we have a seat
around the negotiating table. People
who want to come out want to have
their cake and eat it.
The truth is if we want access to the
internal market, there will probably still
be some sort of contribution we will
have to make. I do not want the UK to
be like Norway; a country that pays into
the EU budget, has the free movement –
open borders to EU migrants – but none
of the influence over the single-market
rules that they have to abide by. Many
of their politicians are very dissatisfied
by this democratic deficit. And there are
benefits to staying in in reduced prices,
cheap flights and economic benefits
because we attract inward investment.
Why might cheap flights be affected?
The EU banned price fixing and ensured
fair competition in the airline industry.
What would happen with that if we came
out? It is estimated the cost of tickets has
fallen 40% because of that.
Some people think a Brexit would
not affect expats. Is that realistic?
No. Being in the EU, for example, means
expats are not discriminated against, so
they do also get various benefits in the
countries where they live.
But I think we need to talk about
the EU in a fun, exciting way and tap
into people’s experiences and feelings
about being part of Europe. Most
people in the UK still go on holiday in
other European countries and there
are cultural affinities. We need to
make it about what we want our identity
to be about as a country. Do we
want to be modern and outward-looking;
part of this block of countries that
negotiates together and cooperates
- which makes us stronger as opposed
to being alone?
One aspect we’ve talked about in parliament
is that Eurosceptics go on about
immigration, but actually one reason we
have an arrangement with France, with
the border at Calais, is due to the EU.
Without it the border would be at Dover.
As it is we coordinate with French
colleagues to manage things better.
Another example of the benefits the UK
gets from Europe is that in my constituency
Jaguar Land Rover has built a huge
engine plant. Foreign direct investment
is a big factor in job creation in the UK.
Many multi-nationals look at whether we
are a gateway to Europe, and if we cease
to be, they will think twice. We’ve heard
of some investors being put off investing
in the UK because of the uncertainty.
What winds up ‘outers’ is when you
ask ‘what does out look like?’ because
they like to claim we would still be OK, it
would all be the same’ – but it wouldn’t,
would it? It would be a leap into the dark
and people don’t like uncertainty. We are
not complacent and we will be fighting
across all fronts to keep the UK in the EU
and if Brits in France feel strongly about
it they can get involved in the campaign
especially in the weeks running up to the
referendum, when things will really hot
up. Connexion readers can also influence
their family and friends back in the UK,
for example by using social media.
