Bishop: UK ‘must remain in the EU’

THE EUROPEAN Union still plays a role in securing peace on the continent and the United Kingdom must remain a member to help secure reform, the Bishop of Wakefield has said.

Bishop Stephen Platten’s comments came in a House of Lords debate on Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech on Europe in which he called for major changes followed by a referendum by 2017.

Bishop Platten told peers: “In March 1990 the European churches gathered in Geneva to celebrate the tearing down of the iron curtain.

“More than that, however, it celebrated the solidarity of the Christian churches never recognising the fracturing of Europe into two post 1945. That stance was vindicated.

“Later that year, I walked through the Brandenburg Gate with my German friend, Klaus Kremkau. It was the first time that he had walked through it since he was a young soldier cadet in 1945. Now he was crossing the threshold with an Englishman.

“Early in his speech, the Prime Minister notes ‘ today the main purpose is not to win peace, but to secure prosperity’.

“No one can doubt that, but peace, as we have seen to our horror in the past few years, can never be taken for granted, even in apparently stable states, so the European Union still exists to secure and sustain a lasting peace, without which there can be no prosperity.”

He said that the EU’s institutions were “beyond middle age – almost elderly” but that “good missionary work always starts from within”.

He called for an increase in “subsidiarity”, where decisions are made as locally as possible and more democracy.

There is a feeling that Europe is r uled by the unelected, by bureaucrats,” he said. “Such a characterisation has been fuelled by Eurosceptics and ruthlessly pur- sued by the less responsible media.”

He added: “What should be our hope for Europe? Economic prosperity, yes, but not at the expense of the rest of the world.

“Social development, yes, and the Prime Minister hints at that throughout his speech. In the Christian tradition, human flourishing and fulfilment are the ultimate vision. We need economic and social progress, but there is one step more.

“Let me return to the less responsible press. Twenty years ago, the Sun printed one of its celebrated headlines — please forgive my language in this Chamber, but I repeat it verbatim – ‘Up Yours Delors’.

“It was Jacques Delors who called for a vision founded on a soul for Europe. That remains essential. The greatest risk is colluding with a referendum process that puts us outside the tent. Reform is essential, but we shall achieve it only if we remain inside, working for Europe’s soul.”