The EU Referendum

Felicity Dowling, Left Unity principal speaker, opens a debate on the forthcoming referendum

The referendum on membership of the European Union is making many people think very seriously, not only about this political decision but also of its after effects. Many, especially women, are undecided. Following the party line will not work as political parties are split. The referendum is an important field of political work for socialists and internationalists.

To make our case we need to see the whole picture; what is happening here in the UK and in the EU for ordinary working people, what is happening in Europe to the refugees from war, what we want and the very different aims of the rulers of both Europe and of Britain. We need to see the role the EU plays in the world and how that role affects people in different parts of the world. This article is just an introduction and hopefully, others will contribute to this discussion

“Remain” campaigns

The referendum offers two choices, referred to as “leave” or “remain”.

There are many positive strands of thought amongst those who support ‘remain’; protecting peace in Western Europe, protecting freedom of movement. There is support from those who see themselves as European and those expressing solidarity with the workers of other countries in Europe. There are millions of EU migrants settled in the UK and millions of British people settled in Europe. Some in the leave camp share our concern for the fate of migrants both during and after the referendum.

The original, popular, purposes of the European Union were first to preserve peace in Western Europe and secondly to promote the growth of economic prosperity. This prosperity was intended to be promoted by removing barriers to trade, which included extending and defending workers’ rights. This was not just for social justice but so no country could benefit by deliberately producing cheaper goods based on poverty wages. It was also to be a popular alternative to the Soviet Union in post war Europe.

An older socialist told me of how important this referendum is to her. She said that after a night in the blitz in 1940, when she was walking between the different houses of her family to see if they had been ok, she saw lines of people walking out of the city towards the more open areas, just walking to get away from the bombing. She says she never ever wants to see that again. To her the EU is a symbol of a commitment to peace in Western Europe.

A student told me that she had not known of the origins of the EU in the post war movements for peace and for a decent settlement for workers; it had always appeared to her to be just a useful bureaucratic organisation.

Others see defending human rights as tied into defending the ‘remain’ vote.

There has always been a tension in the EU between the dominant power of the employers and finance capital, and the weaker power of the social chapter defending workers’ rights.

Left Unity want a ‘remain’ vote but a ‘remain’ aimed at change in Europe. This is explained in greater detail in the article http://leftunity.org/discussion-document-on-the-eu/.

Left Unity has no illusions as to whether these admirable sentiments about Europe are shared by the Conservative “Remain” Campaign. They are not. Neither are they shared by the right wing governments of European countries, or by those who manage the bureaucratic machinery of the European Union.

 Leave campaigns

Some of the “Leave” camp are incorrigibly anti-migrant, nationalist and authoritarian, including the most right wing politicians and the most overtly cruel ministers in this Government, such as Ian Duncan Smith, known for sanctions and benefit cuts and vilifying those with disabilities. Michael Gove enemy of teachers is there too. UKIP are also in the mix with their anti-migrant bile. Some of the political left support ‘Leave’. Some because of the appalling (though different) ways Greece and Ukraine (which is not in the EU) have been and are being treated. Others totally dislike the anti-democratic actions of the EU leadership.

Yet others on the left are calling it a referendum on the Cameron Government; this though is not a common view of the referendum (at the time of writing). Sadly the victory of an anti-Cameron vote would give power and credibility to right wingers and to anti-migrant sentiment. The truly appalling treatment of the flow of migrants across Europe scandalises many more people each day. Some of the leave camp consider this treatment of the migrants as a reason to leave the EU and yet others regard migrants as the enemy.

The Conservative Government

The Conservative government in the UK repeatedly shocks many by its crass cruelty in its dealing with both the poor in the UK and the suffering of migrants in Calais and Dunkirk. Children in Calais and Dunkirk are coming to harm and even the informal support networks established by volunteers have been vandalised. Children with a legal right to be in the UK are abandoned by the state in broken up camps.

Cameron in his £3000 suit cut £30 a week from the benefits of disabled children. Cutting benefits from people with disabilities and extending workfare to those with terminal illness again show the corruption at the heart of this government.

Brutality towards many asylum seekers in the UK in detention centres like Yarlswood and deaths during forced deportation are matched in foreign policy. The Government take no responsibility for their own foreign policy, refusing to take people from the human wave fleeing bombing in Syria, the catastrophes of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Libya, and Yemen, let alone for the role of multi-national oil companies in destabilising parts of Africa.

We have a government that has made a project of demonising the poor, the large family, those with disabilities. They created a fog with which to obscure policies of taking from the poor and public services to give to the rich. Centre stage for this referendum, they place the “demon” migrants. Another object of its venom and its fog has long been the European Union.

Managing the vote.

All is not well though, in the Conservative Party; where once they claimed 2.8 million members in the country, now it is a withering skeleton with less than 150,000, so they do not actually represent the feelings of even the Conservative voters; hence Cameron’s family protesting cuts, and the reports of broken electoral law on overspending because they have so few workers on the ground and must buy campaign labour. The Conservatives also have a very poor system of monitoring public opinion except where they can fog it over on the TV or the papers.

There are deep splits on the issue of Europe. Neither wing of the government has workable answers to the economic problems the country faces. During the era of right wing control of the Labour Party, this did not matter so much as there was no effective opposition to the ideas of the conservatives. Now though, they need to be able to understand what people are thinking as they face a referendum, where they want popular participation.

The referendum in Scotland, which they won by the skin of their teeth and by lots of fog, does not give them much hope. The aftermath of that referendum was not good for Conservatives or Labour.

The referendum will see real bile flow between sections of the ruling class in the UK.

Labour too needs to know what people are thinking. Opinion polls have been shown to be inaccurate. So how does anyone understand public opinion? The fog created by the Conservatives and by right wing Labour comes back to haunt them. The management of public opinion though will still be done, but crudely and inefficiently.

The challenge for socialists is to understand what people are thinking at different times in different places and to understand public opinion better than the opposition, with very limited forces. It matters because the solidarity of our communities could be at stake if anti-migrant sentiments are whipped to dangerous level. It matters because our struggles are stronger linked to similar struggles in Europe.

The media

The BBC has been muzzled, with huge projects like the demolition and privatisation of the NHS not covered on the news, while stories of NHS failings get lots of coverage, for example. The links between Cameron and the Murdoch press are clear as day. Just why channel 5 puts on so much poverty porn is another question to be answered. We know the ideas of our rulers get very good coverage, making it hard for ordinary people to know what is going on.

Finance and industry.

The multi-national finance industries based in London want Britain to stay in the EU. Multi-national manufactures do too. Our ruling class is no longer based just on the nation state. We live in the era of globalisation and the rule of the global über-rich. Democracy though does not touch those parts, the global corporations make decisions purely on profit but in this referendum decisions are being made at state level.

Why does it matter to socialists?

Socialists regard campaigning as a conversation with the working people and with our communities. In this campaign the aims of socialists will be very different from the aims of the different sections of the rulers of this country. We want to keep links with Europe to make it easier for ordinary people to defend their rights.

During and after the referendum we want, crucially, to maintain solidarity within our communities. A conversation at the school gate was reported to me – parents were talking about Polish shops opening. “After the vote they will have to go!” This was said at a school which Polish children also attended. These are not necessarily innately reactionary people. Such ideas will be fed by the dominantly anti-migrant rhetoric of the Leave campaign.

Unless someone challenges such ideas, the reactionary ideas being promoted will get a hearing. Some who do not normally vote might be pulled out to vote by hype and false information. We are expecting the leave campaign to spew out anti-migrant bile. If these ideas become mainstream, the peace and solidarity of our communities could change for the worse. We know such hate speech links closely to hate crime and to attacks. Left Unity and other anti-austerity forces who support ‘Remain’ will need to argue eloquently for our views. We need to build understanding and awareness of the day to day struggles of communities across Europe.

What is happening in Europe?

The Government has managed to obscure many of the real issues going on inside Europe. The huge struggles of the Greek workers forced themselves through into the news, and some information got through about the slap in the face given to Greek democracy. What have we heard though, of what is happening in Spain following the General election or in Portugal? What do we ever see of what is happening in Ireland?

Where is the news of health service issues across the continent, or of comparative levels of benefits? Do we hear of the problems of Poland? Why so many children are getting child benefit from their parents working abroad while their children are living with grandparents? Do we hear much of the issues in Ukraine?

The EU played a very negative role in many parts of the global south enforcing “restructuring” on fragile economies, forcing cuts and closures of vital services.

This ignorance has suited both the high finance Cameron wing and the nationalist, welfare hating, migrant baiting, Tory right. Britain goes into this referendum with an ill informed electorate and unreliable media.

 Crises in Europe

Within Europe there are multiple issues piling up in crisis after crisis. Throughout Europe the doctrine of Austerity has been imposed, causing huge damage and hardship. Our criticism of the leaders of the EU is as frank and out spoken as our critique of their friends the Conservative government here. There are economic as well as political problems facing the rulers of Europe, which is far from a homogeneous area. The west, south and east each have distinct strengths, and distinct problems.

Refugee Crisis

The Greek population has responded with huge generosity to the migrants and refugees. The deaths and misery of this movement of people have been heart breaking. The EU and Turkey have attempted again to humiliate the Greek Government and enforce their own reactionary policies. The Visegrad group of countries met deliberately without Greece in insolent offence to the people of Greece and the migrants who merely wish to travel through their countries. The migrants would cheerfully fly over their countries and trouble them not. It is the rules of the EU and other major economies that stop such sensible travel. Those migrants could travel by plane by train or car but they, for reasons of political pressure, are forced to travel by dangerous boats or to walk. The migrants are abused by the response from the EU leadership. Where is the voice of reason even from France with a supposedly socialist Government?

Deals with Turkey

The people of Turkey face the same day to day struggles as do people in the EU, including the UK. They struggle to earn a living, defend their liberties and rights and to enjoy life. In many aspects, their struggles are hard indeed. We wish them well in those struggles. The reactionary government of Turkey is attempting on the one hand to use the flow of migrants as a lever in politics and to gain entry into the EU’s open market and movement of labour, whilst meeting none of the traditional requirements for democracy and human rights.

The migrants are left in Greece whilst they want to travel on: the EU has provided finances for Greece for the migrants; not to the democratically elected government, but to NGOs (non-governmental organisations).Insult is heaped upon insult.

Germany and the EU leadership’s dealings with Turkey verge on criminal, with tens of thousands of migrants’ lives in the balance. This deal with a tyrant is to try and stem the flow of migrants, though pity help the migrants stuck in Turkey, mere pawns in a power struggle. Some reports say that the EU negotiators held back critical reports on human rights abuses in Turkey to help the current government win the election. It appears that Turkey is to be offered virtual membership of the EU, including trade and free movement rights, without having to meet the criteria of democracy and civil rights.

Back door negotiations with Turkey treat Greece as a wholly owned subsidiary of Merkel and co., as a pseudo colony. The forces of war and economic pressure are relentless in pushing this mass migration both from refugees and economic migrants.

There is opposition to Austerity, to ill treatment of migrants and to repression, in Europe.

This referendum then, is happening at the same time as huge, possibly fundamental and reactionary changes in parts of Europe. The utterly reactionary moves though have not yet been met with a Europe wide opposition.

The resources exist, if harnessed for the needs of working people, rather than for the super-rich, to ‘bail out’ the people, both settled and migrant, rather the banks and finance houses which have created the economic crisis. A huge investment in sustainable industries, in green energy, in both renewed and new sustainable housing, in expanding higher education and health care, in reform of the agricultural policies, in funding the arts, all of which would surely not be beyond the wit and resources of what is in some measures the richest, and possibly the most consistently well-educated major economy on earth.

A campaign across Europe could link to all the local and national anti-austerity movements in the member countries. Such a campaign would require huge political involvement at a level comparable to the movements in Greece in the rise of Syriza. It would also involve a challenge to the power of the banks and global corporations, a challenge unprecedented in post war Europe. Serious political discussions are needed across Europe on how to build such a campaign. Such solidarity between all the campaigns in different the countries would surely offer inspiration to a new generation to build a Socialist Europe fit for the 21^st century.