Labour MEP calls for fair EU audit - 2012-07-13

A British Labour MEP has formally asked the European Commission to conduct its own "parallel audit" of Britain's membership of the EU to balance out the Tory-inspired "audit" of the UK's EU membership  announced yesterday (Thursday 12th July).

David Martin, who speaks for Labour MEPs on constitutional affairs, said:

"It's quite right that the British people should know about the impact of the EU, but that doesn't mean that a long drawn out Tory-inspired face-saver to keep Cameron's back-benchers quiet till 2014 is in the interests of the British people.

 "The British people are entitled to make up their minds on the basis of fair information so I've asked the European Commission to conduct an audit as well so that British citizens can independently decide on the basis of both points of view - one audit inspired by William Hague, and the other from the experts in the European Commission.

 "That way, the British people can make up their own minds fairly after seeing both points of view.

 "An audit should be an impartial and fair review, and the one Hague announced today risks being a one-sided propaganda exercise.

"Cameron has party political problems at home with growing swathes of anti-European backbenchers, and he just wants this long drawn out 'audit' to put the EU issue in the long grass.

"But the EU is going through its greatest crisis since theUKjoined at this very moment. We need a strong eurozone as our economy is dependent on the EU for more than half its exports.

 "What we really need is a statesmanlike response from theUKto the eurozone crisis, not a fudge aimed at Tory back-benchers" he concluded.

ENDS

For further information or an interview with David Martin please contact David Poyser on 00 32 479790053

› Back