“How is the European campaign going? You tell me”

As a European candidate, when I join activists for campaigning I often get asked “how is the European campaign going?” to which I reply “you tell me” because like any other set of elections, local or General, it is up to each individual CLP to organise and fight the campaign on the ground.

Election day is 100 days away and we can be in no doubt that as the results come in pundits will be checking exactly how many green bench seats Labour would win if the same result was replicated a year later. Thursday 22 May will be a crucial test for Labour a year before the General Election and is vital in maintaining the momentum we need to get Ed Miliband into Downing Street.

The European Elections will also be important in their own right as we seek to elect more left of centre politicians fighting for jobs and investment and our kind of our Europe.

Like any other election we need to be knocking on doors, delivering newsletters, manning street stalls, putting up posters and running election day operations. Organisationally in our battleground Westminster seats Labour is in excellent shape with a full team of local organisers. Additionally  – given the voting system in a Euro election where all Labour votes really count – the campaigning work of every CLP will be vital.

We also need to show the strong dividing lines between us and our opponents. The elections cannot be a political education exercise about Europe or a proxy referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

We must use the elections to show our different values from the Conservatives, pointing out that my fellow European candidate in the East of England Richard Howitt MEP negotiated on behalf of Labour MEPs and secured a £22 million fund of EU food aid for local food banks that charities are screaming out for and the Tories said no to it. Labour championed a cap on bankers’ bonuses in the European Parliament while the Tories backed the bankers and are fighting an EU cap on bonuses in the courts. Labour secured a £5 billion European Youth Guarantee to offer young people job or training and the Tories missed the deadline to apply for the fund.

Of course everyone out on the doorstep will also know UKIP as well as the Tories are our opponents and that they are taking potential Labour votes. To this anti-Tory group of voters toying with UKIP we need to explain UKIP are a second Conservative party, who are pro fox hunting, want more NHS privatisation, a flat tax so you pay the same rate of tax as a millionaire and to take away your paid holidays.

On the question of immigration let’s not duck it – but let’s understand it. UKIP pray on people’s fears about migrant workers and get people to believe that they are the reason local people are struggling to find a job or a house. These are Labour issues so let’s confidently say that people can’t get a job or a house not because they are full of migrants but because of a lack of jobs and affordable houses. Then we can talk about Labour’s plan to get our economy moving and explain our pledge to build 200,000 houses a year.

The European Elections can be won for Labour if we get our message across and every CLP plays their part in campaigning effectively. See you on the doorstep.

Alex Mayer is a Labour European Candidate for the East of England