Labour's EU Lunacy.

Reply to letter in Crewe, Nantwich Chronicle of Wed March 2nd:

I was pleased to read Labour’s Mick Roberts call for voters to ‘look past the subterfuge’ regarding the forthcoming EU referendum, and entertained by the staggering amounts of subterfuge in the remainder of his letter. Chief among this was his claim that Worker’s Rights would be lost should the UK leave the EU.

A cursory examination of the facts reveals that in many areas of employment law, UK statutory requirements already far exceed those of the EU, and would hence be unaffected by ‘Brexit’. For instance, EU statutory paid annual leave is 20 days. In the UK it is 28 days. EU statutory paid maternity leave is a mere 14 weeks, in the UK it is 39 weeks.

Any rights or protections that are not covered by UK law can be replaced by additional legislation. The key here is that it would be we, the British People that decide, not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels.

As for Mr Roberts’ claims that Labour ‘will fight for a Social Europe’; I wonder if he has seen the news regarding the UK fighting for anything at the EU over the last 40 years? The events of the last few weeks demonstrate that the EU is totally unwilling to reform, in any direction, even when its second biggest benefactor is on the verge of leaving.

I am perplexed by Labour’s unquestioning support of the EU when so many of its consequences are bad for British Workers. Uncontrolled immigration has kept wages down, as asserted by the Bank of England. The Public Services upon which working people rely struggle to cope. The democracy for which working people like the Peterloo Martyrs fought and died - has been surrendered.

The TTIP deal currently being put together by Cecelia Malmstrom the (unelected) EU Trade Commissioner poses a very real threat the the NHS and will hand unprecedented power to to big corporations. If readers are unclear about how undemocratic the EU is, consider that when asked about how deeply unpopular TTIP is by The Independent, Ms. Malmstrom replied “I do not take my mandate from the people of Europe”.

The sooner Labour lets go of its infatuation with a Europe-wide Socialist Utopia and instead starts acting in the best interests of the British Working People it claims to represent, the better. Labour supporting folk would do well to consider the points of the many Trade Unions supporting Brexit: http://www.tuaeuc.org/

Stuart Hutton

Nantwich.