William Hague: Ukip would be a disaster for the London economy

A party whose MEPs are only in Brussels to ‘have fun’ are incapable of delivering the EU referendum we need

Pull the other one: Nigel Farage and his one-man band refuse to stand up for Britain in Europe (Picture: Getty)

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28 April 2014

As I know from personal experience, many people think that the European elections are a chance to send a message of frustration, if they’re worth bothering with at all. In 1999 the Conservatives thrashed Labour in the European elections on a low turnout. It was electorally the high point of my time leading the Conservative Party.

Two years later, at the general election, the boot was on the other foot and Labour defeated us anyway.

But since then, as treaty after treaty has been signed, the European Parliament’s powers have grown enormously. On many of the issues where decisions in the EU decide much of what happens here — business regulation, the environment, free movement in the EU and more — members of the European Parliament have as much say as EU governments. So how and whether you vote on May 22 will make a real difference.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats say that Europe is working just fine, that nothing can or should be changed and that the British people certainly shouldn’t be given a say.

Ukip cannot deliver the referendum on Europe they say they want; they will not even try to keep what works and change what doesn’t.

I completely disagree with such all-or-nothing views on Europe.

Many in Britain feel that the EU has been heading in a direction we never signed up to, that we have lost too much control of our own affairs. I think they’re right. Every survey of public and business opinion shows that what most people want is for Britain to remain in the EU but under a better deal, and people want to have the right to decide Britain’s future for themselves.

That is exactly what the Conservatives stand for on Europe: our plan is reform, renegotiation and a referendum. Our goal is a new settlement in Europe but whatever the outcome of the negotiations the decision to stay in the EU or leave altogether will be put to the British people in a referendum by the end of 2017.

We will hold to our plan on Europe with the same determination as with our long-term economic plan to build a stronger, more competitive United Kingdom. That has meant taking and sticking to difficult decisions but we are now seeing the fruits: the deficit down, welfare capped, 1.6 million new jobs and 400,000 new businesses and an income tax cut for 25 million people.

Some say no change is possible in Europe but we have a record that proves otherwise. People said you could never cut the EU budget but we did, saving British taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds a year. People said we could never get out of eurozone bail-outs, but we did. People said you could never reform the disastrous fisheries policy but we did.

We have done more: cutting red tape for small business and new free-trade deals beyond the EU that are boosting British exports. We are fixing our immigration system, limiting migrants’ access to benefits and increasing fines on companies that pay less than the minimum wage.

In our negotiations for a new deal in Europe we want to go much further: end the obligation to sign up to an “ever-closer union” in Europe, better democratic accountability with more powers for national parliaments so that power can flow back from Brussels, tighten further measures on benefit tourism, open up new markets for British businesses by expanding the Single Market in digital and service industries, and cut red tape further.

This is an ambitious agenda but our record proves we can do it. London has some great Conservative MEPs — Charles Tannock, Marina Yannakoudakis and Syed Kamall. We need the best possible team to strengthen our hand in negotiations and help us deliver.

These elections matter particularly for London: it is the heart of Europe’s financial and services industries. But there are always global competitors out for London’s business, whether New York or Singapore. We have successfully worked to protect the UK from EU laws that would have damaged our competitiveness — but we need good MEPs there to help us fight our corner.

That’s where Ukip is a real problem. It isn’t just that they say one thing and then another, making it up as they go along — one day calling for cuts to the NHS and pensions, the next calling for more spending. It’s that they don’t turn up in Brussels when they’re needed and when they do, they don’t stand up for Britain.

They even managed to vote against cutting the EU budget. In their own words, Ukip say they “can’t change a thing in Europe” but are there to “have some fun”.

People say Ukip are a one-man band and it’s worth thinking about what that means. Nigel Farage says President Putin is the world leader he admires most. This is at a time when Russia has been isolated at the United Nations and tried to settle disputes with a neighbour through military force.

He goes further and claims President Assad was not responsible for the poison gas attack last year that killed hundreds of men, women and children in Damascus. It is a claim made in the face of all the evidence. It is a claim made only by Assad himself, the Kremlin, the Iranian government and precious few others — a telling choice of company. Yet that is the view Ukip MEPs will be representing on Britain’s behalf in Europe.

The choice every voter will have on May 22 is who they want to stand up for Britain’s interests in the European Parliament. With our record and our plan, I am confident that the Conservative Party can achieve real change in the EU, a reformed Europe that merits Britain’s membership. But above all the British people must have the straight choice in a referendum whether to stay in the EU or leave. To deliver that referendum we need voters’ support. I hope you will give it to us.

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