Hope must beat hate... let us stay
There are days when you think that politics doesn’t really matter. A gritty Yorkshire lass who had the temerity to make this world a better place was murdered by a man consumed by anger.
Last Thursday, hate trumped hope in Birstall. You don’t have to look hard to find people who are angry with the state of the country. I’m one of them.
Wages are too low, housing for young families is too expensive, the NHS and other public services are under pressure.
But Europe doesn’t stop us investing in jobs and skills, or building houses. Europe doesn’t decide how much we spend on schools and hospitals.
Those problems are of our own making, caused by the Governments we elect. And they will only get worse if we cut ourselves off from our biggest outside source of jobs and trade.
As a young firebrand, I was concerned about how the EU would affect our workers, our way of life, that we would lose control. I wanted out. But 40 years on, the world and my views have changed. We discovered the EU actually cared about protecting working people – it established the right to holiday pay, paid maternity and paternity leave, anti- discrimination laws and equal pay.
Br i n g i n g Eur o p e together in the EU has helped give us the longest lasting period of peace and prosperity in our history.
The EU makes our air and beaches cleaner, our food safer, and creates millions of jobs. It stands up to multinational companies, tax cheats, and the bankers who damaged our living standards with the crash nearly 10 years ago.
It’s easy to blame the EU for all our problems. But it would be a mistake to make the referendum a protest vote against everything we’re ticked off about.
With four days to the vote, I hear people talking about three main reasons for leaving. Here’s what I say to them: They’re not clogging up our NHS – they’re funding it and helping to run it! More than 55,000 work as nurses and doctors here.
Between 2001 and 2011 migrants made a NET contribution to our economy of £20billion. Their taxes help pay for schools, fund our NHS and top up your pension pots.
I love the opportunity the EU gives us to live, work and study abroad. As I’m writing this article, I’m visiting my brother-in-law who retired to Spain – one of a million Brits who’ve done the same.
The EU also allows other Europeans to work here and make a contribution. One of them was my Irish daughter-in-law who has provided us with two fabulous grandkids. My brother-in-law and daughter-in-law are not immigrants. They’re people. Sure, where there is pressure from migration, there needs to be help. But one of the first cuts the Tories made in 2010 was scrapping the £50million Migrant Impact Fund set up by Lºabour to support local services.
We must bring that fund back and increase the money we put into it.
But the state of our public services is decided in Westminster, NOT Brussels. This Leave claim is just plain wrong. When you take off the rebate and the money we get back to help businesses, universities and some of our poorest regions, it’s closer to £160million a week.
In return, Britain can sell goods and services to 500 million people without paying tariffs. That underpins three million jobs and generates more than £4bn a week in trade. The exports and extra jobs pay us back far more than our EU cash contribution.
For every pound we pay, we get £ 10 back from having a bigger economy and cheaper prices for food and goods. MYTH 3: Taking back control
and ending EU red tape Being an island with complete control over everything in it might be attractive – for a few weeks.
Then we would start having to deal with other people, other countries and global superpowers like the United States, Russia, China and India. We get better protection for our people and interests being in Europe.
And that “red tape” includes paternity and maternity leave, paid holiday and other employment rights.
We’ve already seen the beginning of the economic shock of possible Brexit – £100billion was wiped off the value of our shares this week. Your pensions are tied up in those companies.
And if you’re sick of listening to politicians, listen to experts. The Bank of England says there would be a serious economic shock if we left and the chief executive of the NHS said it would be very dangerous.
I’m sorry the referendum campaign has produced little agreed facts with more heat than light, and considerable confusion. So it’s down to go with your gut feeling.
In the 1975 EU Referendum I was convinced we would come out. But we stayed in as many undecided women didn’t want to leap in the dark, threatening the security of their families.
Europe’s not perfect but it’s been good for our families and our economy. So let’s lead the EU, not leave it. Next Thursday, let hope trump hate and vote with Labout to Remain.
Problems will only get worse if we’re cut off from our single biggest source of jobs & trade