State the case for Britain in the EU

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/16/state-case-britain-european-union

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A strong Ukip performance in the forthcoming European parliament elections will strengthen demands for a referendum on UK membership of the EU. Referendums are a dangerous instrument as shown by a mere 27% of the electorate carrying the Swiss vote on immigration quotas (Report, 10 February). A referendum in Scotland could end over 300 years of union within the UK. It is in this context that political elites must engage with the very real threat of a UK exit from the EU. The deep entrenchment within laws, protocols and partnerships across political, economic, social and environmental spheres is such that leaving the union would generate massive uncertainties and unknown costs that are not adequately understood. There is even less coherence on Britain outside the EU than there is from the SNP on Scottish governance post-independence. A possible UK exit ought to provoke a proper debate about the consequences. The government and opposition should lead this debate but instead there is virtual silence.

The Labour party seems pathologically incapable of mentioning Europe, perhaps cowed by focus groups affirming that Europe is not a priority, and by widespread Euroscepticism. By failing to promote the achievements of the EU and acquiescing in the distorted evidence and downright untruths on issues such as benefit tourism and the costs of membership, Labour is neglecting its democratic responsibilities. It is time for the party to join with trade union and business interests in affirming the advantages of membership. Labour must also present an agenda to repair the damage inflicted on the union by the Blair and Brown governments' craven subservience to neoliberal orthodoxy and financial and banking interests, including tax havens, which has undermined the social Europe ideal on which the EU was established. Simon SweeneyUniversity of York