I’m in James Wharton’s constituency today – talking about the real priorities for local people

Today I will be on the Labour doorstep in Stockton – the constituency of James Wharton, the Tory backbencher whose Referendum Bill was debated in Parliament yesterday. Along with thousands of activists up and down the country, we will be talking about the fall in living standards, the looming winter NHS crisis, and the energy bills rip off.

Issues that matter to hardworking families, that affect their everyday lives – not the priorities of the Tory Party, obsessed by Europe to the detriment of all else.

This week we have seen the CBI report that found every UK household is £3,000 a year better off inside the EU; a study by UCL that revealed European migrants paid 34% more in taxes than they received in benefits; and yesterday we saw the chief executive of Nissan say they would reconsider their future in our country in the event of a British exit from Europe.

Yet still the Conservative Party bangs on about a referendum, ramps up the rhetoric and threatens our prosperity. And what does David Cameron do? Caves in to their demands, follows not leads, more concerned with party management than the national interest. Ed Miliband has always said any decision on a referendum should be made on what’s best for Britain – not what’s in the interests of David Cameron’s Conservatives or any other party.

A decision about Britain’s membership of the EU has to be based on a judgement of the national interest. Committing now to an in/out referendum in 2017 is patently not in the national interest – the priority should be stability, jobs, and growth. This is a Tory Bill aimed at addressing the the Tory Party’s lack of trust in their leadership.

The uncertainty several years wait for a referendum would induce will be disastrous for jobs and growth, as companies wait to see if we’ll be in Europe before deciding whether to invest in our country, or pull out altogether in the event of a No vote. It is these considerations that should be at the heart of the debate on Europe, and this week business made its position clear.

The Referendum Bill undermines the national interest by putting jobs, stability and growth at risk. We will be focusing on pushing the prime minister to do more to stimulate growth and jobs and get the economy going, instead of wasting time appeasing the hardliners in his party.

Earlier this week Mr Wharton, alongside transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin and business secretary Vince Cable broke the ground at Hitachi Rail Europe’s new factory at Newton Aycliffe, bringing much needed jobs to the area. It will be ironic if his Bill leads to factory closures, as the boss of Nissan has hinted at, and job losses – not only ironic but disastrous, for the constituency, for the region, for the country.

Glenis Willmott is Labour’s leader in the European Parliament