Euroscepticism from the left

This is a departure from the normal area covered by this blog. The other day I bought the Morning Star, feeling that the Guardian is a fairly pro-establisment paper that would not reflect the kind of left wing that was betrayed by Blair and Brown. This is what its leader says about Europe (following David Cameron's promise of a referendum):

We cannot hope for a Miliband government which stands up to the European Union. Not on EU-enforced austerity. Not on EU-enforced privatisation. Not on EU-enforced attacks on workers' rights. Not on the EU transformation into a NATO-style military force.

And certainly not on the EU democratic deficit. The bloc has steadily tightened the noose on the governments' power to conduct their own affairs. It has grabbed more and more power for its unelected officials to dictate national policy.

Its war on democracy has gone as far as imposing unelected 'technocratic' leaders on Italy and Greece with orders to enforce austerity by any means necessary.

And neither the Tories nor Labour nor the hapless Lib Dems are willing to give us a chance to say what we think about British membership of this warmongering, undemocratic big-business superstate.

EU membership is too important to abandon to Ukip (sic) and the Tory right, who are on the right side of the debate for all the wrong reasons.

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Socialists and trade unionists should be bold in pushing for withdrawal from the EU. We must not be chased off the battleground by critics trying to smear all Eurosceptics as racists and frothing Ukip extremists.

We can make and win the case for EU withdrawal based on hope, not fear. ... If Miliband's Labout won't offer that vision then it's up to us to apply the pressure from below. The People's Pledge campaign has already registered a series of overwhelming votes in favour of a referendum and momentum will only grow throughout 2013. [Link added]

...The three main parties want a capitalist Britain to be run by the global elite. The Tory right and Ukip want a capitalist Britain to be run by the British elite.

We want Britain to be run by the British people. We want a socialist Britain – and we can't have that until we escape from the grasp of the Brussels brokers.

Morning Star, 24 January 2013

 

I was quite surprised by this editorial, because I thought the left had bought into the European deal. Europe seems to be in the grip of corporate lobbyists (at least that's how it looks from this country): and more power for corporate bodies almost invariably means less for the people they employ.

A referendum would be good, without waiting for the electoral convenience of the Prime Minister.