by Sonny Leong, Publisher and Chair, Chinese for Labour

December 2011

Back in May 2010, the Cameron promised Britain would play a "strong" and "positive" role in working with our European partners. However, as Britain woke last Friday to discover Cameron used his veto, it became painfully apparent that the government has reneged on this promise and in the process worryingly sidelined Britain in Europe.

Historically, the Tories have been almost continuously wrong, especially in foreign policy. It was wrong to resist revolutions in France and the US; wrong to go slow over abolishing the slave trade; wrong to champion the Corn Laws; wrong to embrace appeasement in the 1930s; wrong to contest the decolonisation of India. The British right's instincts – jingoistic, imperialistic, anti-progressive and isolationist – have consistently led this country into calamities.

David Cameron's veto of the proposed EU treaty change is a gross error of judgement and undermines Britain's future within the union.

Cameron's defence of his "veto" was the threat of the EU's planned attack on the City, through the financial transaction tax, and the regulation of the banks.  However, these excuses don't add up.

Cameron claimed that the UK will not be allowed to follow the recommendations of the Vickers report and regulate UK banks more stringently than the EU has agreed.

But bank regulations agreed at the EU level have always been an agreement of a minimum level of regulation, leaving it to individual jurisdictions to decide whether they want to impose further regulations.

For example, Switzerland (a non-EU country, but one that follows EU banking directives) has suffered no cost from the EU for demanding that Swiss banks now hold double the capital of the EU minimum level.  It's simply not the case that the EU would stand in the way of the Vicker's recommendations at all.

Margaret Thatcher was the most Eurosceptic PM of our lifetime. Yet for all her rage and frustrations with our European partners, she never for one moment countenanced the possibility of absolute isolation. She knew that trade deals, raw power and diplomatic influence came not just from our history, or her personality, but from how other countries perceived our international strength and reputation.

In winning a short term boost for his own reputation for strength amid Eurosceptics, Cameron has put at risk the strength and reputation of the country he leads. He got himself into this position in part by failing to take sufficient care over his relations with other EU leaders. It is to be hoped he is not similarly dismissive of relations with the US, China, India and emerging economic powers.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg did not show up in the Commons during Cameron's statement to the House, because he didn't want to be a distraction.

A distraction from what? A distraction from the fact that he is the most pro-European leader in UK political history, now propping up the most anti-European government.

The current EU may not be what any of us would have made in an ideal world, but that does not mean that Europe's citizens do not need a European Union.  The single market has been a huge success in terms of both employment and consumer prices. As a result of the EU, Europe can speak with one voice on world trade. Britain's interests are represented in a way they could not possibly be represented as one of many countries in the global stage.

Virtually all European countries are now in the EU. This does not mean that EU countries want to give any powers to Brussels that are best sorted out at member state level. David Cameron used to say that he wants to 'repatriate powers'. When he says this, Cameron is not talking about wasteful subsidies – he is talking the EU-wide rights won by the Left on issues like maternity leave, working time, four weeks paid holiday and minimum wage. Of course these should be international issues – otherwise employers in one country will have to compete with employers in other countries in a permanently downward spiral.

Like other British governments over the last thirty years, Cameron also says he does not want a 'two speed Europe' (where Britain is on the periphery and left out of major decisions that affect the UK). He also wants his 'repatriation of powers´. He cannot have both.

We will regret the day this Prime Minister left Britain alone, without allies, without influence. It is bad for business. Bad for jobs. And bad for Britain

He will have to show some humility, get back to the negotiating table and "make a bad situation better". It will be an embarrassment for Cameron, but in the best interest of Britain.

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