Referendum on EU membership

Any concessions won by the likes of Cameron or even Miliband will not bring about the type of EU which has the interests of ordinary people at its heart. At the same time I question the motives of UKIP for withdrawal.

I support participation in international movements designed to secure peace, freedom, international co-operation for sustainable world development and social justice. The present structure of the EU does not currently fulfill this criteria and is instead by and large undemocratic, highly centralised and bureaucratic.

Admittedly there have been benefits of our membership, but these have come at an enormous cost, and what is given with one hand by the EU is very often taken away with the other. A classic example of this is it's opposition to nationalised industries, collective bargaining and its drive for unsustainable competition. This results in a race to the bottom in terms of wages and conditions, lack of job security and redundancies. Therefore conditions won are negated by the overall profit driven obsession of the EU, enforced competition and its survival of the fittest mindset.

A referendum on our continued membership is our democratic right and one denied by recent Tory and Labour administrations. But any withdrawal should not be based on the interests of big business and closer economic ties with the US. This is basically what UKIP are pushing for, hence their complete lack of opposition to the TTIP.

So if a referendum opts to leave, what should be on offer after the EU?

We cannot be an isolationist state and likewise its not in the interests of the people to be tied to the US. I would like to see a co-operative federation of European states, retaining national independence yet working for the interests of all. This would bring co-operation on a European wide level, on human welfare, workers rights, environmental and sustainability issues and of course encourage sustainable trade between nations and regions.