Jeremy Corbyn's party has been marred by inflamed debates over what to do about Brexit. Alex Sobel explains how some simple steps could answer a lot of the questions.
There’s a debate raging in the Labour Party about the EU and Brexit.
Can we deliver our 2017 manifesto – especially on nationalisation – within the European Union or even the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)? Is the EU just a neoliberal club? What exactly do the different options mean from a left-wing perspective?
These questions have never been tackled cohesively or comprehensively by the left particularly within Labour. This is why I got together with Catherine West MP, Manuel Cortes of the TSSA, Allison Roche of UNISON, and Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, authoring Open Labour’s new pamphlet Owning the Future: The Left’s Relationship with Europe.
The pamphlet is set out so it does two things; it sets out the options – including the current frontbench position – and the risks and opportunities each offer from a left wing perspective without being doctrinaire about a position.
It is intended for members to read and to foster discussions on Europe within their local Labour branches.
The pamphlet doesn’t advocate a single position. Indeed, both Manuel and Yanis set out two positions that differ from that currently held by the Labour frontbench. In the foreword I make the argument for Labour as an internationalist party and show how Europe has ensured higher social and environmental standards in the UK.
Open Labour believes Labour needs to be a leader in Europe not withdraw from it. Jeremy Corbyn’s Amsterdam speech, made soon after the Open Labour Conference, championed this position too.
Open Labour believes that:
“Only one member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) has a significant revival in membership. That party is the British Labour Party and the energy and anti-austerity politics of the new Corbyn Led Labour Party has much to offer our sister parties in Europe.
“Now is not the time to retreat into the UK, but lead a fightback of the European Left. Open Labour believes when the Left is strong in national parliaments across Europe, this is when the EU enacts the social legislation that has seen stronger labour, social and environmental standards.”
Open Labour wants to support Labour to get the best possible deal and if we enter government soon, give Keir Starmer and his team the opportunity to negotiate a deal. So Open Labour’s policy is principled and supportive yet pragmatic about the difficulties ahead.
We believe that if a bespoke agreement – one which gives EU Level rights and protections and a customs union with full access to the European single market – cannot be negotiated then the UK should seek to be a signatory to the European Economic Area (EEA) and gain European single market access through this existing agreement.
Open Labour calls on a future Labour government to aim to return the UK to be a rule-maker not a rule-taker in Europe, and take full part in the debate about how we transform Europe as one of the leading left parties in Europe.
It believes that we need to take down borders between workers, not put them up and labour needs at least the same rights and freedoms as capital. We should be striving for labour to be the master of capital not its servant.
Launched at Open Labour’s recent annual conference, the pamphlet also underpinned our policy position within the Labour Party and we will now campaign in and out of parliament, alongside likeminded members and organisations, to try and move Labour’s policy closer to our position.
Open Labour believes if we isolate ourselves and advocate an isolationist socialism, then when production leaves Britain the neoliberal answer will be to cut: to cut our wages, cut our rights, cut our safety protections and cut environmental regulations.
So we will continue to fight for a positive future in Europe and oppose any measures that open the UK up to further neoliberal encroachment on our economy.
Alex Sobel is the MP for Leeds North West. You can follow him here.
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