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Non-partisan pro-Europe group launched in the UK

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Published 31 January 2013, updated 01 February 2013
15 comments
Tags
Cameron, euroscepticism, labour, Lib Dems, UK, UK Conservatives, UK referendum

Politicians from across the political spectrum have joined forces to campaign for Britain to stay in the European Union after Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to hold a referendum on the country's membership.

Cabinet ministers Kenneth Clarke (Conservative Party) and Danny Alexander (Liberal Democrats) along with former minister Peter Mandelson (Labour) launched the group, called British Influence, on Wednesday (30 January).

The group said in a statement, quoted by AFP, that it was "assembling an army of supporters to fight Europhobia and promote a reform and growth agenda that serves the British national interest".

Cameron promised on 23 January to offer Britons a simple ‘in/out’ referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union if he wins the next election, scheduled for 2015.

>> Read: Cameron takes gamble with in/out EU referendum pledge

The Daily Mail called it “a provocative move”.

According to advanced copies of the speeches, Mandelson was due to tell the launch event that groups trying to "destroy" Britain's influence in Europe "have been allowed to get away with murder".

Alexander, a junior treasury minister from the Liberal Democrat party which is in coalition with the Conservatives, was to say that Cameron's plan to repatriate significant powers from the EU was "nonsensical."

"We can offer a more compelling alternative: a strong UK, influential in Europe and so more influential in the world. Stronger with America and China, because we are at the heart of the EU," he was to say.

Clark was due to say that it was "obvious" and "essential" that the EU needs to reform in order for the UK to "compete properly in a fiercely global marketplace".

“The real challenge for us as we debate our role in the EU is working out what we should be pushing forward, what we should be leading on within the EU, to make it - and us - a more effective economic and global power,” The Daily Mail quoted from the text of his prepared speech. 

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COMMENTS

  • The fact that it is a pro-EU group and uses language such as 'Europhobia' to describe its opponents shows that it is actually a very partisan group.

    I hope they'll be capable of marshalling proper arguments to defend their position rather than just name calling, which has become a rather tedious characteristic of the pro-EU camp.

    The fact is the UK's EU membership is not for economic reasons - trade would continue regardless as it does between the Rest of the World & the EU, it is political and mainly designed to bolster UK relations with Washington.

    By :
    Justin Pugsley, Principal, JJPAssociates
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • Excellent move. Europe needs Britain. Britain needs Europe. It is all about teamwork.
    European teamwork. Fantastic players in Europe. Should be easy for us to compete with Asia, the US and the rest - if we work together.

    By :
    Povl Henningsen
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • This a group who argued strongly that adopting the Euro would be great for the UK. If they want to persuade the undecideds the pro-EU lobby would do best to keep them hidden. The only people with credibility are those who made the right call on the Euro - David Owen, Gordon Brown, William Haig etc.

    By :
    Martin
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • "Non-partisan pro-Europe group launched in the UK"

    Wow! That's at least four, maybe even five, people right there!

    Note: "Europe" is a continent. Nothing more...

    By :
    Eriks
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • @ Povl Henningsen

    Excellent move. Europe needs Britain. Britain needs Europe. It is all about teamwork.
    European teamwork. Fantastic players in Europe. Should be easy for us to compete with Asia, the US and the rest - if we work together.

    If you say so Povi, lots of empty management speak there and that's about it.

    George Mc

    By :
    George Mc
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • ... except it isn't a new group: it's a rebranding of the badly named Nucleus group. And all these people like Ken Clarke were campaigning back 10-15 years ago for Britain to join the Euro. New faces needed, as well as a new name. Please move on.

    By :
    Janto
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • Hello Evereybody!! Here we are again. Povl, if, by Europe, you mean the EU then why does Europe need Britain? For its cash contribution to the EU and for access by the other 26 countries to Britain, the market. You can try to rubbish that last bit but you would upset the Germans who trade approx. £40billion per annum with us (that's just one country). Why does Britain need Europe? Access to markets and sensible trading conditions. That's it really. We don't need this model that moves towards a United States of Europe. Put it another way - how many countries in the current 27 would have joined the EU in its current state, if it is such a fantastic thing to be a part of? In the UK, the usual suspects who maintain (with insults) that we would be stupid to leave are the same who vaunted the much-derided euro, that we would miss out on business opportunities, that we would lose inward investment. And that turned out to be as big a load of bollocks as the stuff they are re-gurgitating now - (See? I can be just as insulting!!) I've said it before elsewhere. How many of the 500 million "Europeans" would vote, in their respective countries, for further integration along the lines of US of E assuming they would be granted a referendum to do so (not a certainty they would be granted that, either). Talk to you soon. Best Wishes

    By :
    Don Latuske
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • We need the EU market and nothing else. We certainly don't want all the federal baggage that is the long term goal and vision of many europhiles. If Cameron or whoever can convince me that rule from Brussels is not on the cards then maybe I'll vote to stay in, but I'll not put economic advantage - big or small - over self rule.

    As Robert Burns said of Scotland's union with England:
    "we're bought and sold for English gold
    Such a parcel of rogues in a nation."

    well, just change English to EU for the reality

    By :
    Charles_M
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • @don latuske

    Hello,

    Britain need Europe as Europe needs Britain ! It has been already explained by Mr Cameron !
    Europe will perhaps be unrecognized ! But this is true because Europeans as well as Great Britain won't loose the £ and € and together we need to re-rise our economy !Even if Europe goes federal or an United States territories or Countries with a federal state!What is so bad in It ? What to complain about ? That's one of the best political system ever !
    We cannot last on this actual situation ! IF States in North America become Independently and becomes a countries what would happen with their Economy and Currency and their Political Level?
    That Means a political chaos! And in meanwhile Europe is to take as is with his good and weak side!
    Finally It's in both interests to continue to work together as in good an bad times!

    @Povl Henningsen
    I agree with you!You are right !! A very good attitude! It's in all our interests !

    By :
    an european
    - Posted on :
    31/01/2013

  • wow, not all Britons are conservative xenophobic isolationists.

    By :
    Otto
    - Posted on :
    02/02/2013

  • @ Otto

    "wow, not all Britons are conservative xenophobic isolationists."

    Very true Otto, most of us as outward looking towards the world and would prefer to be in charge of our own destiny.

    Think Brussels, think Commission, think democracy and please tell me why the first option doesn't have a lot of attractions.

    George Mc

    By :
    George Mc
    - Posted on :
    02/02/2013

  • People, politicians should read between the lines of Cameron's speech. In the ends it is not at all about leaving the EU. Europe needs Britain, Britain needs Europe, no question. Where it's all about are the Treaties of Lisbon and Maastricht, which are a not enough sound fundament for future integration, at the same time allowing the EU too much room to manoeuver around issues, which really count; subsidiarity.

    By :
    Willem, a Dutchman
    - Posted on :
    05/02/2013

  • Well I am writing from Denmark. I am sticking my nose into other countries´affairs.
    This is what the EU is about.

    Teamwork is labelled management speak. I happen to believe in teamwork. I prefer to look at Europe as an advanced exercise in population teamwork.

    I sincerely appreciate the English as members of the European team. Am slightly frustrated that you seem to prefer solving tough issues on your own.

    I understand you past. But things have changed. Compromise is the way forward.
    Slow, laborious, tedious at times. Just think about an ordinary table round at EU summits. 27 voices - 5 minutes each. Who would want that at the face of it?

    But on reflection: isn´t wonderful that European nations are forced to listen to each other?

    By :
    Povl Henningsen
    - Posted on :
    05/02/2013

  • @ Povl Henningsen

    I understand you past. But things have changed. Compromise is the way forward.
    Slow, laborious, tedious at times. Just think about an ordinary table round at EU summits. 27 voices - 5 minutes each. Who would want that at the face of it?

    You have answered your own question about Team work. Every country is trying to get what is best for their own benefit. I don't believe for one minute that if the net contributing countries were lined up against the net receiving countries that size and clout would not win out.
    Do I believe that Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Denmark and Finland have as much collective influence as say Germany or France? NO!
    In your example above the little countries will by and large listen while the big beasts have a meaningful exchange of views and ideas.
    I would be interested to see how you are going to coach that one

    Regards
    George Mc

    By :
    George Mc
    - Posted on :
    06/02/2013

  • @povl
    I accept what you say about teamwork. However, many issues – trade, environment, security– require teamwork with countries beyond the EU. A concern for those wider links make some of us suspicious of the fortress nature of the EU with its emphasis on us (European) versus them (foreigners). European solidarity implies non-solidarity with non-Europeans.

    The suits some countries in their search for protection against the outsider. For France against US culture, for Poland and the Balts against Russia. For the UK with its wider world view it raises problems.

    We wonder why the EU has to duplicate the European arm of Nato. Or why the EU duplicates the European Convention on human rights, or why the EU is developing an EU consular service. Or why Maastricht wanted a currency for the whole of the EU despite all the evidence on optimal currency areas.

    Much of the activity of the EU only makes sense if you understand the long-term federalist agenda. it is not just about identifying issues and searching for sensible solutions. It is about the gradual movement towards the promised land. Listen to the leaders of the major groupings in EP

    You can criticise the UK for rejecting the promised land by ruling out ever entering the single currency area. However, to claim that we are purely isolationist and do not understand the need for international cooperation is far from the truth.

    By :
    Martin
    - Posted on :
    06/02/2013

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