Alan Johnson is right – it is clear that leaving the EU would be a disaster

On the left and right of British politics, there has been much speculation about Labour’s position on Europe lately. So yesterday’s comments by Alan Johnson at the party’s conference in Brighton were a welcome reminder that Labour is firmly committed to back Britain’s membership of the EU.

We are safer, stronger and better off as part of Europe, and putting this at risk would be bad for our country.The economic case for being in the EU is overwhelming. Almost half of our exports go to other EU member states. For our industries, this has helped to boost growth and create countless jobs all across the country.

In services, it has helped to establish the sector as the UK’s prime economic engine, and has empowered London to be the unrivalled financial capital of Europe. This is why most businesses and trade unionists are unambiguous about their support for Britain to stay in.With the UK’s strategic position as a major English-speaking economy within the world’s largest free trade area, our membership of the EU encourages thousands of businesses to locate their headquarters and production in Britain.

The EU is vital to our economy, and isolating ourselves would be disastrous.But being in the EU is not merely about economic benefit, and it is imperative that we communicate just as clearly what EU membership means for workers.

From paid holidays to maternity and paternity rights to redundancy protections, EU measures improve life and work conditions for millions of Brits every day. And as Alan Johnson rightly points out, it is dangerous to assume that the UK government would protect all these rights if we left.

So too, Europe provides protections for consumers by bringing down the cost of a supermarket shop, foreign flight, or making mobile phone calls abroad.

These are just some of the reasons why Britain has to be courageous and unequivocal about Britain remaining in Europe. It is clear that the EU is far from perfect, but being ambivalent or putting conditions on our support is playing right into the hands of UKIP and other Outters, who are jeopardising the opportunities for young people.

Britain’s future is safer, stronger and more prosperous within an EU focussed on jobs and rights at work.To secure it, we have to be in this fight to win.

Will Straw is Executive Director of the In Campaign