The business backlash against Tory EU exit plans 

It’s not just José Manuel Barroso who has warned David Cameron that his party is taking the wrong approach when it comes to talk of an EU exit. There is a clear sense of concern and anger from the UK and international business community in respect of the Tory plans for an in/out referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU in 2017. This has led to a serious business backlash against the Tories.

Standard & Poor’s, the international rating agency, has recently stated that the biggest threat to the UK’s credit rating is the risk of it leaving the EU. The negative impact on business doesn’t just realise upon the exit itself, but is accentuated and made even more challenging by the looming prospect of that exit becoming a reality.

Many of us have spoken to major international businesses which have made it very clear that they will move headquarters and key operations from the UK to neighbouring EU countries in the event of an exit.

This substantial uncertainty risks damaging our delicate recovery. International businesses will feel less attracted to the UK if it means being domiciled outside of the EU. For businesses already headquartered in the UK, an exit will inevitably create increased barriers to entry to the single market. Why would any start-up, small business or multi-national look forward to the prospect of leaving such a key market to which they can export their products and services?

Cameron’s plans are bad news for businesses, and more importantly, the employees who depend on those businesses to grow and thrive. This will hit places like the Thames Valley hard, where major and small technology, research, and other innovative companies, are working hard to flourish. Those companies require a direct and uncompromised route into the single market.

The Tories’ relationship with business has been further damaged by the intervention of John Redwood, who warned that firms expressing views on EU membership would pay a ‘very dear economic and financial price’. Failing to listen to business reeks of an arrogance akin to that articulated by Brooks Newmark, when he warned charities not to speak out against Government policies, and to ‘stick to their knitting’. From the world of business, through to the third sector, people are tired of these condescending attitudes.

No-one is saying that everything is absolutely fine as it stands; and there is wide-spread awareness of the need for EU reform. However, we are showing a determination to do this in a more constructive way than the Tories, in order to bring about the best for our apprentices, graduates, workers, and businesses.

We know that lessons need to be learnt from East European migration, which focus on appropriate parameters for any future countries joining the EU. Labour is clear that people should have a guarantee that no future transfer of powers should take place without the public having their say.

Reform can also take the form of proactive and empowering measures within the current system. This includes prioritising growth and jobs. Labour has been absolutely right to call on this as a key focus of the EU, leading to the appointment of a Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness.

Measures such as these will have a tangible effect on tackling the cost of living crisis as well as ensuring that the EU offers a more prosperous market for companies to trade in. It also helps in spreading a more positive message of what can be achieved, when MEPs, MPs, and candidates speak to people across the country on the doorstep and in the high street.

As the Tories plough ahead with their damaging EU exit policies, we need to continue to expose the risk that this presents for the UK. In doing so, we demonstrate that we are indeed the party that prioritises long-term, sustainable economic growth that works for the UK as whole.

Charles Smith is Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Maidenhead