Meretz UK Home of British Meretz

Caption to image, above: taken by JLogan/Wiki, showing central Brussels with European Parliament to the left

As I write millions are streaming to the polls throughout Britain. It would be an understatement to call this referendum on UK membership of the European Union “important”. In fact, it is crucial – elections come and elections go, but voting Yes or No today will determine the shape and the fate of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for decades to come.

And contrary to what some Brexiteers suggest, one cannot leave in order to renegotiate a better contract next year! Divorces don’t work that way in personal life; and the chances of re-engaging at a state level are equally unlikely. Simply put, the EU’s 27 other member states will hardly be charmed if the great British public appears to snub them at the ballot box today. Psychologically and politically, Britain cannot win better terms by playing roulette with the EU.

So why Remain?

Many arguments have been thrashed out over the past weeks and months. This is not the place – or the time! – to review them all. However, putting aside the fear tactics employed on both sides of the divide, and notwithstanding the obvious flaws of the EU system as it currently exists, certain facts seem clear. There are 1.8 million British living and working in Europe. What will their future be if Britain pulls out? Similarly, the large influx of EU citizens has on balance benefited our nation. And that means not only the many Poles, Bulgarians and Romanians who prop up the NHS and keep building sites, restaurants and the service sector running, but also others, often ignored, like the French, Germans and Dutch who tend to do invaluable work in academia, business enterprises and finance.

True, the Out crowd have a point about UK infrastructure straining to cope with so many newcomers. But is that the EU’s fault or that of our own politicians? Speaking of infrastructure, surely one of the key advantages of EU membership is the enormous help the Union provides to run-down areas in Britain. EU grants to places like Whitechapel, Toxteth or the Gorbals have often saved such communities from collapsing altogether during recent economic upheavals. Surely any leftist party worth its salt should stress this enlightened aspect of the EU system. Rather than suggest that the EU is some rich man’s club that saddles the working class with debt – if you would believe some of the more high-flown rhetoric of the decidedly illiberal and frankly proto-fascist gestures of UKIP.

On the artistic front – and bearing in mind that Meretz UK supports cultural activities – the EU provides a creative envelope within which exchange of ideas has blossomed since the UK joined. As one wag put it – and several others have echoed – the choice is between Little Britain and Great Britain. Likewise priceless academic networks would crumble if Britain were to cut itself adrift from the continent. Regarding trade agreements, the nearly universal voice from foreign leaders (both in and out of the EU) is that Britain on its own cannot hope for as favourable terms as Britain in the EU.

Yet leaving aside issues of “the pound in your pocket” – what is the true value of the European Union? Let’s think historically. The last century saw two vicious world wars, largely played out on European soil. In the second, 54 million died, including the six million Jewish deaths during the Shoah. Yet for 70 years there has (largely) been peace and prosperity in Europe, for which much thanks is due to the institution of the European Union.

And from a specifically Jewish perspective, EU membership has helped ease communication between previously divided Jewish communities. The two largest in western Europe, France and Britain, have crossed boundaries of culture and language to forge ever-closer links, and their respective nations’ shared membership of the EU has only helped towards this endeavour. Perhaps more dramatic still is the recent increase in bonds between British and east European Jews. Before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 it was as if we lived on different planets. Afterwards the ice began melting; but it was only since the entry of Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to the EU that permanent cooperation between Jews here and there became truly established. Is it worth risking all of this for the questionable delight of leaving the EU? Added to which, note the paradox that Britain, the nation that fought hardest to get east European states to join the EU, is now gambling with deserting the self-same institution!

On the ethical plane, Meretz in Israel and Meretz UK and Hashomer Hatzair UK all share a deep commitment to human rights.

The EU Memorandum on Human Rights and its related laws provide UK citizens with a solid bulwark against discrimination on grounds of creed, colour or religion, gender, age or sexual orientation; it guarantees fair wages and fights unfair dismissals; it protects against arbitrary arrest or state violence; it grants all citizens the right of reprieve in cases of injustice. Moreover the human rights structure was actually drafted by British lawyers after World War II, so it is nothing “alien”! To vote No to EU membership risks jettisoning it all! And as to those who say, no problem, we can make up our own laws: well, that could take decades, and in any event it undermines the rights of British people travelling in Europe. Put bluntly, it describes the forlorn hope of re-inventing the wheel… which surely represents precisely the sort of silliness and waste that No voters accuse the EU of promoting.

Moreover, the sane voice of a UK in the EU would surely influence European policy to both Israelis and Palestinians in a more powerful way, as compared to some foolish “empty chair” policy. Yes anti-Semitism is a scourge in parts of today’s Europe. So is the threat of militant Islamic and other terrorism and growing fascist cohorts. But surely the best way to tackle these challenges is on a unified basis, acting across borders, not as individual atomised nation states. And what an irony that so many Israelis and Turks want their nations to join the EU, precisely when alarming numbers of continentally connected Brits wish to leave!

For all its faults, the EU is a work in progress – and Britain should and can still be at the centre of its development. Voting out has its emotional attractions; and understandably many feel let down by the EU, or put off by its bureaucracy. But leading constitutional experts affirm that the idea of the British parliament losing its ultimate sovereignty to the EU is a myth. Far from going down what many see as the “dark road” towards an ever-closer union, the EU, as it stands at present, is putting that project on hold – if it ever was a reality – as it faces so many potential threats that require flexible national resopnses. Perhaps greatest of these threats is the growing aggression, especially towards Baltic states, emanating from Moscow. What an irony that supposed patriotic No voters would not fight this assault on freedoms.

In sum, Britain In Europe would offer a chance for affecting many needed reforms; for bolstering the excellent improvements the EU has already brought; for increasing freedom of movement of both labour and capital, to the advantage of business; for offering essential support to the most needy on these islands’ shores; and for preserving the peace which is arguably the EU’s greatest if immeasurable gift. Britain Out of Europe indulges in nostalgic and ill-considered thinking. History moves forward, and so must we, Jews and non-Jews, Brits, French, Spanish and Greeks alike!

•  Lawrence Joffe
• Secretary of Meretz UK