Unsavoury allies
The
first major problem for the left is that both positions imply rather dubious
allies. On the one hand, the campaign for remaining in the EU is dominated by
David Cameron and his friends in large corporations. They want to retain the
advantages of EU membership in form of easy access to the Internal Market,
while using the re-negotiations of the terms of the UK's membership to
undermine further workers’ rights and welfare policies. Restricting access to in-work and out-of-work benefits to EU migrants
has been one of Cameron’s main negotiation goals.
On
the other, those on the left who campaign for leaving the EU are in danger of
joining forces with xenophobic, anti-immigration groups around UKIP and on the
right-wing of the Conservative party. There is clearly the danger of nationalism in a
No to the EU campaign, which can quickly turn into an anti-immigration,
xenophobic course. Especially in times of crisis, people under pressure with
their livelihoods threatened can be won over by discourses against immigrants,
who are alleged to steal jobs of British workers and to ‘abuse’ the ‘generous’
British welfare system. Especially UKIP has linked anti-EU arguments to
immigration and is likely to emphasise this in its No campaign.
Neo-liberalism
unchallenged
And
yet, even though the UK has not been part of the Eurozone, austerity policy
reigns similarly supreme in Britain. As soon as the coalition government of
Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats had come to power in 2010, savage cuts
to welfare spending and the public sector were implemented, affecting the
weakest in society most. Now in power on their own, the Conservative government
continues on the same policy course. Historically, in fact, the UK has been a
driving force of neo-liberal restructuring in the EU. Many policies of
privatisation and liberalisation had been tested in the UK first, before they
were exported to the rest of Europe. Margaret Thatcher, a keen protector of
British sovereignty, supported the Internal Market programme strongly, as she
realised that this was the best way of opening up continental EU members in
line with British neo-liberal policies.
Real issues
avoided
Against
the background of the global financial crisis and austerity policies, British
society is slowly falling apart. There has been a significant increase in
inequality over the last 30 years (see The Equality
Trust)
and food banks are proliferating since the first austerity budget in 2010 (The Trussell
Trust).
Young people find it increasingly difficult to get proper jobs and good
training. In 2012, the TUC reported that ‘20.4
per cent, or one in five, young people are neither working nor studying
full-time – the highest level since October 1994’ (TUC).
At
the same time, the deregulation of the labour market has intensified the
general exploitation of the workforce. Zero hour contracts are increasingly
widespread, the working environment in companies such as Sports Direct (see Unite, the Union) becomes
harsher, the exploitation of workers is being intensified across the economy.
While the government emphasises the importance of cutting welfare benefits (BBC, 22 March 2016), it intends to
spend more than £167 billion on the renewal of Trident, the British nuclear
weapons system (The Independent,
25 October, 2015).
None
of these issues is affected or addressed by the referendum over British
membership in the EU. In fact, the real issues concerning working people are
drowned out by an increasing media-hype around the referendum. Perhaps from a
left perspective it is best to stay clear of these futile discussions?
Prof. Andreas Bieler
Professor of Political Economy
University of Nottingham/UK
Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk
Personal website: http://andreasbieler.net
23 March 2016
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