The case for Europe must be based on more than personalities

By James Valentine

Should Tony Blair be President of the European Council? Does David Milliband want to be the EU foreign policy chief? Who cares, anyway?

I’m struck by how these issues, which clearly fascinate the media, actually have so little resonance with Labour party members, let alone with the general public.

And it’s unfortunate that only near the end of its third term has Labour finally got round to talking about Europe, and in terms of personalities, rather than policies.

Milliband has belatedly tried to inject some substance but his cerebral approach hardly sets the debate alight.

The case for Europe is simple – it’s about British interests. If you look at the previous supporters of Britain in Europe (an organisation which was, pathetically, allowed to die) it reads like a roll-call of Britain’s largest employers. The business case for Europe is stronger than ever; the Tories, because of their hang-ups about Europe are not making it, so it’s our opportunity to do so.

Hundreds of thousands of our supporters now work or live in various EU countries and benefit from the new labour mobility. They would be willing to vouch for their experiences, if we were only to ask them.

And it’s pretty obvious that if you want to make a difference on international problems like climate change then you need to tackle them on an international basis.

Doing nothing is not an alternative. Cameron is likely to major on an entirely bogus platform of opposing the Lisbon Treaty, and notwithstanding the obvious splits and contradictions in his party, the message will stick unless we put the positive European argument.

Our approach on Europe right now is, frankly, dire. We had a pretty good manifesto for the European elections but it hardly saw the light of day – I suspect that someone in Downing Street sat on it. Europe ministers now don’t last for years – they depart in weeks, and I had to look up the name of the latest one (ah yes, it’s Chris Bryant.)

For what it’s worth, I probably support a Blair presidency, because he would certainly articulate the European cause effectively. But we need Labour politicians to make the case for Europe here, for the sake of British citizens, British families and British workers. It isn’t too late, if people could just sort out their priorities and find some resolve.

And it’s much more important than which particular job goes to which boy.

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