The British Left seems finally to have settled on how its relationship with Europe should be defined - positive, engaged, reforming

With his announcement this morning, Jeremy Corbyn pretty much completed the alignment of Britain's progressive-wing behind the campaign to remain in the European Union (Stewart, 2016). The support of the Labour leader now sees Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and the trade unions GMB (600k members), Unison (1.3m members) and Unite (1.4m members), all backing an In vote (Mason, 2016; Silveira, 2016; Unite, 2016).

But what it also represents is the British Left finally settling on a way to talk about its relationship with Europe. This was best seen in Corbyn's support for the EU coming with criticisms attached.

Corbyn argued that the EU had protected workers' rights, pushed for better environmental standards and introduced safeguards for consumers (BBC, 2016). Yet he also pointed to shortcomings, like the lack of sufficient of democratic accountability and an establishment commitment to deregulation and privatisation.

That view solidly aligns Labour with the stance adopted by Caroline Lucas, followed by the rest of the Greens, in backing Another Europe (Lucas, 2016) - a movement of activists and campaigners calling for "a Europe of democracy, human rights, and social justice" and moves towards a more hopeful, "social, citizen-led Europe".

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP, has argued that Europe is right now in the hands of conservatism because conservatives won successive elections across Europe and formed national governments (Lucas, 2016{2}). As a result they hold many seats on the European Council, which allows them to shape Europe with the policies of conservatism.

Simply losing elections is not good grounds for secession, Lucas argues. Instead we should stay, working with progressives in all of Europe's countries, to build a progressive consensus for reform that protects Europe's social chapter, its workers protections, its environmental protections - made possible by its shape as a continental, cross-border, that brings Europe together to deal with transnational issues.

So far the EU referendum campaign has, with both sides making almost identical claims, revealed that life in or out of the EU is unlikely to be much different on the surface, with even immigration is unlikely to be altered by an exit (Stewart, 2016{2}).

The exception is that leaving is acknowledged to come with the risk of an initial shock to the economy, which everyone seems to accept will happen and will be a bad thing, but no one is sure just how bad (Stewart & Watt, 2016) - with no guarantee that any subsequent growth benefit will be shared, while growth in the EU has been said to come with boosted living standards (Full Fact, 2016).

In a narrow debate, filled with nationalism and misinformation (Allegretti, 2016), the progressive view is a refreshing alternative. Acknowledging past and achievements, and talking about how to build a positive future - one that is open, and commits to cooperation, with people working together to achieve more for the common good.

It is about time that the British Left figured out and stated its position on Europe. The wavering, particularly of Labour's, commitment to the international ideal of Europe has helped to severely undermine public confidence in a bigger, more open world. Corbyn's speech has hopefully put that to rest.

References

Heather Stewart's 'Jeremy Corbyn: leaving EU would lead to 'bonfire of rights' - Labour leader stresses need for international cooperation in speech calling for Britain to stay in EU'; in The Guardian; 14 April 2016.

Rowena Mason's 'GMB union backs campaign for UK to remain in EU: Pro-EU lobby welcomes move despite union’s enthusiasm being cooled by Cameron’s trade union bill'; in The Guardian; 15 February 2016.

Ian Silveira's 'EU referendum: Boost for 'remain' as 1.3m-strong Unison trade union backs campaign'; in the International Business Times; 13 April 2016.

'Unite to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU as ‘the best hope for workers'; from Unite the Union; 18 March 2016.

'Jeremy Corbyn makes Labour case for staying in EU'; on the BBC; 14 April 2016.

Caroline Lucas' 'Joining the radical ‘remain’ campaign: Another Europe is Possible'; 30 March 2016.

Caroline Lucas' 'Caroline Lucas: To protect workers' rights we must remain in the EU'; 13 April 2016{2}.

Heather Stewart's 'Brexit unlikely to cause significant fall in immigration, says report: Research from thinktank Open Europe suggests Britain would still likely experience high levels of immigration if it were to leave the EU in June'; in The Guardian; 13 April 2016{2}.

Heather Stewart & Nicholas Watt's 'David Cameron: economic shock of EU exit 'not a price worth paying' - PM to counter argument by pro-Brexit Boris Johnson that initial uncertainty would be followed by rapid improvement'; in The Guardian; 10 March 2016.

'EU facts behind the claims: Economic costs and benefits'; from UK in a Changing Europe Fellows, on Full Fact; 13 April 2016.

Aubrey Allegretti's 'EU Referendum Campaign ‘Grassroots Out’ Confuses Daily Mail Story For Actual Quote By Brussels Boss: This poster’s getting absolutely pasted'; in The Huffington Post UK; 14 April 2016.