Why is Labour so in love with Europe (and should it be)?

The Labour leadership campaign is about to reach the ‘moment of truth’ when we will finally know who is going to make the ballot and who is not. One thing we can be sure of is that much of the campaign that follows will focus on what Labour is ‘for’ and where it goes from here. Some candidates will talk of ‘emotional connections’, others simply of ‘values,’ whilst we have all met our new friend ‘aspiration’ recently. How Labour regains trust on issues such as the economy and leadership in general will likely dominate.

However, perhaps one of the more interesting (and lesser discussed) issues for debate is around Europe and Labour’s policy on Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

I am not sure when it happened but it seems that being ‘pro-Europe’ is almost an article of faith in the Labour Party now. Not just pro-Europe but an enthusiastic advocate of the EU project. In fact, if there is one thing that you can almost guarantee that the Labour leadership candidates proceeding to the campaign proper will agree on, it is that the Labour Party should be an enthusiastic champion of Britain’s membership of the EU.

To be fair, it has been this way for a while but this has not always been the case. Indeed, some of the most Eurosceptic people in Labour’s history have actually come from the left of the party. This has usually been out of fear of ‘capitalist plots’ and Europe’s so-called ‘democratic deficit’ but it has been there.

“My view of the EU has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners but I am in favour of democracy. I think they are building an empire and want us to be part of that empire, and I don’t want that.” Tony Benn

Given Labour’s past, it is interesting that the current crop of candidates is so instinctively pro-Europe. That they are says much about the psychology of Labour’s emotional relationship with Europe in 2015.

It is interesting and also, honestly, a bit puzzling too.

It is not so much the support for Britain’s continued membership of the EU that is puzzling but the enthusiasm for it. When you strip away the rhetoric about ‘achieving more together than we achieve alone,’ ‘not pulling up the drawbridge’ or ‘being an outward looking nation’ it is worth asking ‘why’? Where does this enthusiasm come from? After all, it would appear to be enthusiasm that many members of the public (including traditional Labour supporters) do not share. It is true that there is no apparent public desire to leave the EU but there is certainly no great love for the EU as an institution either. If in doubt, see last year’s EU parliamentary election turnout and results as evidence of this.

In truth, Britain’s collective enthusiasm for the EU has long been lukewarm at best. Most appear to accept that Britain needs to be part of the EU for jobs, prosperity and for a less tangible sense of international credibility. However, the price to pay for this membership is free movement of Labour and belonging to a large, bureaucratic institution that feels very distant and difficult to influence. Free movement of Labour, perhaps the number one issue, brings competition for jobs and wages along with cultural and economic insecurity discussed in more detail elsewhere. The institution itself is led by people the public can barely name and looks and sounds not massively dissimilar to someone like FIFA. Another large, bureaucratic multi-national organisation that many feel they cannot influence let alone control.

Now I am not personally advocating leaving the EU. That would be one almighty (and unnecessary) leap into the dark for the country to take. However, being branded as ‘Europe’s cheerleader’ is not a place Labour wants to be either.

A big mistake for Labour to make would be to view recent opinion polls showing strong support for Britain’s continued membership of the EU to be either permanent or reflecting any love for the institution of ‘Europe’ itself. Likewise, being an internationalist party of the left is not incompatible with seeking serious reform in Europe or with robustly standing up for Britain’s interests in it. After all, what many in Britain feel towards the EU is not solidarity but necessity. There is little love for Greek bailouts or EU budgets for example whilst policy makers in the UK struggle to develop a compelling offer on immigration and welfare that they can deliver which the public will swallow.

So during this upcoming leadership campaign, it will be interesting to see how far each of the candidates are prepared to go to ‘take on’ Europe rather than merely eulogise about it. This is, after all, something Prime Ministers are expected to do. As the party seeks to regain relevance in the country, it would be wise to adopt a more cautious approach to Europe. Having opposed the upcoming EU referendum in the first place, Labour does not start from a strong position here. The public want a government that will stand up for Britain’s interests, much as the SNP is seen to do so for Scotland. With that in mind, Labour’s policy on Europe could perhaps do with less passion and more pragmatism. At the very least, its policy should be debated and conventional wisdom challenged (if only to reaffirm it). This is, after all, what leadership campaigns are for.

Keiran Pedley is an Associate Director at GfK NOP and presenter of the podcast ‘Polling Matters’.