The Socialist Case Against the EU

Earlier this week in Derby, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) launched a series of public meetings under the heading ‘The Socialist Case Against the EU’.

Speaking in Derby (May 18), Becci Heagney expressed concerns with a current meme titled “What has Europe ever done for us?” that was produced by Unite the union and is presently doing the rounds on the internet. As she correctly pointed out, none of the ten things that the union say Europe has done for us were actually given to us by the EU. Becci explained:

“The most griping one for me was Equal Pay. Firstly, men and women still don’t have equal pay in this country, I think there is still about a 19% pay gap, so that hasn’t been achieved. But secondly it was the Equal Pay Act that we got before the EU even existed, and it was achieved by women workers taking strike action and fighting for it. And actually the union that led those workers on strike action is part of Unite now. So for Unite to rewrite its own history in saying that it hasn’t been the result of our union, or the result of workers taking strike action, it’s been the fault of the EU, is a massive mistake.

“I am sure many comrades here have seen the film Made in Dagenham, it’s not called Made in Brussels. I think it is quite dangerous that working class history is constantly being rewritten about the role of working class people throughout history, but for that to happen by our trade unions is quite worrying, but is a reflection of the massive shift to the Right that has happened within the trade union movement. … [It seems that] trade unions leaders and the bureaucracy have given up on the power of the working class; they have given up on us being able to organise ourselves; and they’ve said, what we need to do is just ask organisations like the EU for these rights, and hope that we get them. But even if the EU had given us certain rights, it would have been on the basis of working class people organising for them and demanding them, not an act of generosity from the EU, in the same way that our government never does anything out of generosity, it does it when it is forced too.

“So regardless of whether we are in the EU or out of it, working class people need to rely on their own strength to organise to defend our own rights and to fight further for better jobs, better wages and conditions and so on. And we only need to look the Trade Union Act that has just gone through Parliament, which represent a massive attack on trade unions: where has the EU been in opposing those attacks? It’s been supportive of them. We can’t rely on any bosses institution to fight for working class people.”

Speaking on the second TUSC tour date in Leicester the following night, Rob Williams, who is the chair of the National Shop Stewards Network, said:

“It’s well known that Jeremy Corbyn is, at the very minimum, Eurosceptic to say the least – his whole record is against the European Union. But the truth is that when he got elected the Blairites put a gun to his head, and unfortunately, on that and some other things he has retreated. For instance, it has come out now, that Ed Balls asked John McDonnell for permission to campaign alongside George Osborne, and incredibly John gave permission for Ed Balls to do that, which is absolutely outrageous and a massive mistake.

“And really what you’ve got here from some of these politicians and trade union leaders and some comrades on the Left is a sort of ‘lesser-evilism’ in reality. Rather than making the starting point the interests of the working class, they’re doing it from the basis of, what will be the outcome; well could the outcome be slightly better from the point of view of what will happen afterwards. And therefore you end up saying, well Cameron is not quite as bad as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove is worse than Osborne – you know, what a way to approach this issue. From a trade union movement that has six and a half million members, a Labour Party that we are told has doubled in size over the last year, surely we should have bigger ambitions that having that.

“I have heard some argue, that we can’t argue for a leave strategy because it will result in the Tories being strengthened, particularly the Right. … But let’s be clear about this, if there is a defeat for Cameron, he will be ejected as Prime Minister. In fact, it is highly likely that he would have a split Tory government and that you would have a General Election, and then you could have a Corbyn government. That is probably one of the more likely scenarios in this election. The Tories are at each other throats, and it would be a major defeat for the Tories.

“And so these comrades, unfortunately, have absolutely no confidence that the working class can play an independent role. We are talking about a Tory government that was only elected by 24% of the electorate in the first place, and of course, as we know, virtually on a daily basis now have gone from one U-turn to another… And really those arguments are the mirror of some of the right-wing trade union leaders who argue that one employer is better than the other… Can I ask this question of any comrades who hold that view: would you argue that for instance that it is best not to have a strike, because a strike could lead to a worst chief executive than the one you’ve got now?”

TUSC stands for real internationalism. Many of our problems – from economic stagnation, endless wars, the appalling treatment of refugees, to planet-threatening global warming – can only be solved at an international level. If society remains organised as it is today, based on a capitalist economic system that puts private profit first and divided into competing nations, the prospects for humanity will be bleak indeed.

But that’s why we need a socialist Europe, not the ‘Employers’ Union’ that is the EU, with its austerity agenda.

Voting Leave on June 23rd is a step towards defeating a weak and divided Tory government and building a movement that can unite with workers across Europe to fight for a different world. The following dates have been agreed for the tour so far:

May 18 – Derby; May 19 – Leicester; May 25 – Gateshead; May 31 – Bristol; June 1 – Birmingham; June 2 – Coventry and London; June 7 – Leeds, Salford and Southampton; June 9 – Cardiff; June 14 – Liverpool; June 15 – Warrington; June 16 – Stoke.