Brussels hustings: What do the leadership candidates think about Europe?

Labour leadership candidates took part in a hustings in the European Parliament with MEPs and staff yesterday. This is an account from Richard Howitt MEP – there is a full editorial note at the bottom.

Question: What is your own commitment on Europe and tell us about your personal record on this?

ANDY BURNHAM:

If we are not internationalist we are nothing. That is why the Labour Party must always be pro-European to its core. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I argued for an increase in the EU budget. In the cabinet, I argued for the Working Time Directive.

YVETTE COOPER:

The European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights have been very important in stopping our crisis-riven continent, as much as Europe is important for our prosperity and trade. That doesn’t mean defending the status quo. As MEPs you are involved in reform, and as a party we must always argue the case for reform in Europe. I defended EU arrest warrant and we won the argument. I was responsible for the argument that we should work with Europe to stop desperate people drowning. We have a moral obligation for what we argue for in Europe as well as for being a part of Europe itself.

LIZ KENDALL:

I am passionately pro-Europe – first, last and always. We must champion opportunity for young people and make a positive case for immigration. We cannot afford to be silent.

JEREMY CORBYN:

I strongly support the European Convention on Human Rights. If we walk away from the Convention, we are in no position to criticise countries like Belarus. We need to stand up for a multi-ethnic, multi-faith Europe but Europe should be a little less aggressive in its foreign policy in other parts of the world.

Question: Would you continue the current arrangements where the EPLP Leader sits in the Shadow Cabinet and MEPs serve in Shadow Ministerial teams? How can the relationship between the EPLP and the party in Westminster be further improved?

YVETTE COOPER:

Yes I would guarantee that. It will be more important than ever in the next two years. To be honest, our European Election campaign didn’t talk about Europe and should have done. Yes you should be in the Shadow Cabinet and in the shadow teams, but we must make sure too that meetings are held at times when the MEPs can actually get there.

LIZ KENDALL:

Yes, it will be very important leading up to the EU referendum. We are in a modern age – if physical presence is not possible we can use Skype or other video messaging services.

JEREMY CORBYN:

Obviously you should be a part of the Shadow Cabinet and in all the main activities of the Labour Party. I hope there is no-one arguing otherwise.

ANDY BURNHAM:

Yes the EPLP Leader should be in the Shadow Cabinet as a matter of right not simply by invitation. Yes, MEPs should attend Shadow Ministerial Team meetings. I would also restore the right for MEPs to have full nomination rights in future leadership elections. MEPs should be centrally involved in the Labour Yes campaign for the EU referendum – I want to see you at the top of that campaign.

Question: What is your commitment to European Employment Rights?

LIZ KENDALL:

We must ensure our values don’t stop at our borders, and are reflected in trade agreements too.

ANDY BURNHAM:

MEPs have done much to promote workers’ rights but free movement has contributed to a race to the bottom. I want to stay with the policy of entitlement to benefits for migrants only after two years, and to end under-cutting of wages. I said earlier I want to see European action to protect the ‘going rate’ in the labour market.

YVETTE COOPER:

In a common market, it is an important principle for countries not to be able to under-cut each other. We don’t want a free for all in which wages and conditions are undercut. We should strengthen the posted workers directive and the agency workers directive. I heard earlier what you as MEPs are doing to tackle the Swedish derogation.

I led the argument to make exploitation in the workplace a crime – we are effectively talking about modern slavery. We should argue that in Europe too. And in the debate about EU reforms, we will always argue to stay in Europe, but if David Cameron argues to remove social rights, we should tell him now that it will make the referendum more difficult to win.

JEREMY CORBYN:

I want a Europe of workers’ rights, environmental and social protection.

Question: How does Labour counter the threat of UKIP?

ANDY BURNHAM:

When as politicians we appear on TV simply saying immigration is a good thing, to many people we simply look out of touch. I’ve talked before about a conversation in Leigh where a voter told me he was the only one in his workplace who spoke English. I would like to see European Structural Funds used to assist communities who have experienced the most rapid change in migration. And then we can argue for immigration but bring people along with us.

YVETTE COOPER:

It was a myth that UKIP would only take votes from the Tories not from Labour. I know that was something which you in the EPLP were arguing for, for some time and weren’t sufficiently listened to. As leader, I would take UKIP on. Of course it’s not racist to talk about immigration controls, but we should say it is racist to suggest Lenny Henry should have to leave the country, as some from UKIP did say in the election campaign.

LIZ KENDALL:

We should be more honest about the positive benefits which immigration brings. There must be no race to the bottom. There is no rewind button to go back to how it was many years ago.

JEREMY CORBYN:

I have argued for immigration all my life. The head of the UNHCR Antonio Guterres says there are more refugee movements now than at any time in history. We need to deal with the causes including war and environmental deforestation.

Question: As leader, how will you win the EU referendum?

YVETTE COOPER:

First, the Labour leader needs to be in the lead of the campaign. It’s great that Alan Johnson has been appointed to the ‘Labour Yes’ campaign but I want the whole party to be convincing everyone in this referendum. I speak to the people in Pontefract about the new ‘Haribo’s’ factory, built to export to Germany, to France, to Spain and they tell me the company wouldn’t be investing in the facility if Britain weren’t part of the European Union. My message is: we need more Haribo’s!

LIZ KENDALL:

Let’s make the positive case for Europe, right here, right now. First and foremost it’s a case for jobs, growth and investment. But we have to say too that David Cameron is leading us to Brexit, not by design but by default.

JEREMY CORBYN:

At present David Cameron is an unwelcome guest across European capitals – they groan when they hear he’s coming. He doesn’t know what he’s asking for. We need the debate to be about solidarity across the continent.

ANDY BURNHAM:

We have to show the party has the courage of its convictions – and that must lie in Britain staying in the EU. The case needs to be put on emotions too. Millions have stopped emotionally relating to the party. We need to deal with the issues they care about or simply we become more out-of-touch.

Concluding Statements:

JEREMY CORBYN:

We don’t need a Fortress Europe attitude, a xenophobic culture – that won’t solve Britain’s problems. But I am concerned about the growing similarity of purpose between the EU and NATO. And TTIP is a race to the bottom; we need solidarity in our commitment for workers’ rights, environmental and social protection.

ANDY BURNHAM:

I’m running a campaign to win the referendum in 2017 and then to go on to win the General Election. I’m sick of losing. I will be a leader who exploits the shambles which the Tories are on Europe and I will take the fight to them on Europe.

YVETTE COOPER:

I wish we weren’t having a leadership hustings but I was here as Home Secretary in a Labour Government. I wish we weren’t dealing with a Tory Government, half of whom want us to pull out from the jobs and trade which the EU brings, and shamefully to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights. Europe is an existential issue for Labour. I want to lead the campaign to win the EU referendum.

LIZ KENDALL:

It is right we are in Brussels today. Your role as MEPs is essential to defining the future of the country. We can’t deliver Labour’s goals unless we remain at the heart of the EU.

Editorial Note: These extracts are an uncorroborated, edited version of answers given during the Labour Party leadership hustings which took place in the European Parliament on 22 June, and have been written primarily for the benefit of party members in my East of England constituency, to generate further debate on the important issue of Europe to them and in my work on their behalf. I have sought to present relevant answers as accurately and objectively as possible and the extracts are based on a verbatim note taken during the meeting. Nevertheless, I emphasise that they are not an official record and any errors and omissions in presentation are of course my responsibility, not any of the candidates themselves. If anyone present at the meeting feels there is any inaccuracy, please contact me and I will be more than happy to consider any amendments. In any case, I hope all readers find this account useful and helpful as you consider your own positions on the party and its future leadership.