Labour Sets to Rebuild EU Ties as Part of Election Strategy,UK election 2015 updates, United Kingdom General Election updates, UK political News 2014 2015
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:30
UK Election 2015: Labour Sets to Rebuild EU Ties as Part of Election Strategy
he U.K. Labour Party will prioritize rebuilding relations with Europe if it wins May’s election, its spokesman on foreign affairs, Douglas Alexander, will say on a visit to Paris Tuesday.
Alexander will criticize Prime Minister David Cameron for causing “serious damage” to Britain’s influence in the European Union, and will say a victory for Cameron’s Conservative Party could mark a “point of no return” for relations with the bloc, according to prepared remarks sent by Alexander’s office. He’ll be speaking at the headquarters of France’s ruling Socialist Party and will meet Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
Labour will set out a “Review, Repair and Reset” agenda for Britain and Europe as part of its election strategy, pitting itself against the pledge to hold a referendum on continued EU membership that Cameron has made one of the cornerstones of his campaign. A Confederation of British Industry survey last year found that eight out of 10 businesses would vote to stay in the EU.
Cameron’s hardening stance on Europe as he seeks to win back voters who have defected to the U.K. Independence Party, which advocates an exit from the bloc and is anti-immigration, has caused friction with some of his European allies such as Germany.
“A key foreign-policy priority for an incoming Labour government will be to review, repair and reset relations with Europe upon entering office,” Alexander will say. “No country that seeks to play a leading part in the modern world could contemplate walking away from the world’s largest single market, or to cut itself off from some of its closest allies.”
London Meetings
Alexander, who is poised to become foreign secretary if Labour is elected in May, will promise to host a series of bilateral summits in London with EU allies to discuss cooperation, and stress that his party will focus on reform in Europe, not exit from Europe.
“The idea that our influence in world capitals would grow as our influence in Europe diminished is not just a euroskeptic fantasy, but a post-imperial delusion,” he will say. “The prospect of a second-term Conservative government could see Britain stumble out of Europe altogether.”
The Conservative Party defended Cameron’s position, saying in a statement today that only he has “a clear plan to deliver real change” in Britain’s relationship with Europe.
Alexander will also meet Frans Timmermans, the new first vice-president of the European Commission, and Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders this week.
src:bloomberg.com