Gareth Thomas MP: Cameron’s Europe policy is a tragedy for his party, but a disaster for our country

The Shadow Europe Minister says the debate on Europe must focus only on stability, jobs and growth. Recent weeks have seen the deep and bitter divisions within the Conservative Party over Europe surface yet again. Senior Tory figures such as Lord Howe, Ken Clarke, and Nicholas Soames have all recently broken rank with the Prime Minister. Whilst from the eurosceptic Tory right, the Prime Minister has received a further public humiliation with over 90 of his own backbench MPs signed a letter attacking his approach over Europe. Since his speech twelve months ago, David Cameron has shown that he can’t even convince his own party that he is adopting the right approach on Europe when he claims he will renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU. Indeed a year on from Cameron’s speech on Europe – and just four months until the European elections - there has still been very little detail about which powers he will try to reach agreement on repatriating from Brussels. Equally, George Osborne’s recent speech and the ‘Balance of Competences Review’, much hyped by Foreign Office Ministers, was long on rhetoric and short on policy proposals. Whilst this uncertainty is a tragedy for the Prime Minister and his party, it risks being a disaster for our country. It’s now clear that the undoubted need for change in the EU is not being examined in a sensible way by the Conservative Party, because David Cameron simply cannot bridge the deep divides within his own party over Europe. But while David Cameron has tried and failed to silence the critics in his own Party with a promise of a referendum in 2017, Labour has been clear that we do not believe it is in Britain’s national interests to commit now to an in/out referendum in 2017. David Cameron can’t ignore the facts; over 3 million jobs in the UK are dependent on our membership of the European Union, many of which are in the UK’s car-building industry where roughly 4 in every 10 cars built in the UK are shipped to EU countries. According to recent research by the CBI our membership of the EU is worth between £62 billion and £78 billion – equal to around 4-5% of this country's total economic output or around £3,000 per UK household per year. But it’s also true that Europe’s institutions and policy agenda do need to change and reform. The priority in Europe for an incoming Labour government would be securing growth and supporting our economy. That’s why we need to extend and complete the single market so that British companies can benefit from the opportunities of trade with our nearest allies. That’s also why Labour has long called for a European Commissioner to have a specific and urgent focus on growth, with a mandate to champion economic recovery across Europe. But as well as securing growth, Europe also needs to tighten its belt. We need to reform how much it costs to run the EU – that’s why Labour’s MEPs and MPs rightly voted for a reduction in the EU’s budget and the abolition of the European Parliament’s wasteful second seat in Strasburg. Funding should also be cut back on the Common Agricultural Policy as a proportion of the EU budget. Instead research, innovation and support for entrepreneurs should be given much greater priority.Britain has benefited from the free movement of people across the EU, but we have been clear that the consequences of these increased migration flows across Europe need to be better managed. That is why, back in January and March of last year, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary gave speeches setting out the practical steps the UK needs to take to better control and manage immigration within the EU. We need to see action to stop immigration being abused and exploited as a source of cheap labour to undercut wages and jobs. We have called for more flexibility over extending the transitional arrangements when new member countries join the EU, alongside tightening up the Habitual residence test which in turn determines migrants access to benefits and services. But above all else we need to have a sensible debate about reform, which builds public confidence and encourages talented people to continue contributing to our country, while mitigating against some of the pressures that migration can have on our communities here at home. Whilst David Cameron focuses on his own Party’s divisions and lurches from one political crisis over Europe to the next, and carry on their tussle over their own European policy, it falls to Labour to set out a real and credible agenda for reform of the EU focused on stability, jobs, and growth. Gareth Thomas MP is the Shadow Europe Minister