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Good morning,

I would like to thank Seema Malhotra Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury for introducing me just then.

She gave an excellent speech last month in Manchester that expertly made the case for how we must engage with young people in this campaign. It is a theme that I will continue today.

Labour’s Shadow Treasury Team wants to make the positive case that membership of the EU is in the best interests of the future generations of our country.

I would also like to thank the TUC for hosting me here today.

I used to work for the TUC many years ago. One of the lesser known things about the TUC is the relationships they maintain with other trade unions across Europe and the rest of the world.

It has helped to connect millions of working people across numerous countries to find shared solutions to the complex problems that affect the lives of many, regardless of borders or national flags.

It was this culture of solidarity and unity that the trade union movement spread throughout Europe long before the EU existed that helped to create and sustain the post-war environment that led to its creation.

In just over a month from now our country will make one of the biggest decisions it has faced in a generation.

In campaigning on this issue the first thing I hear on the doorstep when discussing the EU referendum is that the level of debate so far has been very negative on both sides and that what people want are the facts and real vision from their politicians.

I think they are right.

The referendum resulted from the splits in the Conservative Party and their fear of UKIP, and as a result the debate has degenerated into the worst forms of negativity and brought out the worst in Westminster politics.

The negativity has been overwhelming.

I am sure we have all heard the fear stories about the risk of Brexit and what might happen.

Such as:

• World War Three could break out.
• People will be fired from their jobs.
• Boris Johnson could be Prime Minister.
• Families could be divided forever.

And that is just what it means for the Conservative Party.

I want us all to try and rescue the debate from this negativity and ‘Project Fear’ coming from all sides of the Tory party.

It’s time to turn this debate around, drive out the politics of despair and offer a vision for Britain and Europe, one where we protect workers’ rights, tackle tax avoidance, get to grips with climate change and protect our industries like steel.

This is a vision of Europe based on hope and solidarity.

There are only two basic facts I want to point to today, especially to Labour voters and supporters.

With global economic uncertainties combined with Tory economic incompetence, from Budgets they can’t make add up, to fiscal targets they can’t achieve, the risk of an immediate economic fallout from Tory Brexit means those advocating a Labour vote to leave carry a heavy responsibility.

Labour voters who are voting Brexit need to know what could be on the cards if we leave right now.

Fact One is the economic reality as pointed out by what the IMF said last week that in the event of a Brexit, and I quote:

“plans for additional medium-term budget consolidation may need to be developed to offset the longer-run adverse fiscal effects”

In plain English, if we have a Tory Brexit then we have the likelihood of more Tory cuts to come.

As we all know what that would mean under a Tory Treasury.

More austerity cuts just to meet their inflexible and flawed fiscal targets.

George Osborne has already created a £4.8bn black hole in the nation’s finances.

Thanks to George Osborne’s recovery built on sand, our economy today simply is not strong enough to withstand the kind of adverse shock Brexit could create.

Fact Two is that it’ll be a Tory government still in power the day after the referendum.

It’ll be a Tory government pushing austerity, committed to cutting first and thinking later.

With the economy pushed into recession by Brexit, as the Bank of England predicts, the immediate future could look grim.

It’s is not worth considering a Tory Brexit when a Labour Remain vote offers a truly positive economic case.

But I don’t want to focus on the negatives today.

I want to speak today about the alternative vision for Europe.

I know that for some people, hearing me making a positive case for remaining in the EU may be surprising.

And I know there are some people who will try to say that deep down I don’t really support the vote to remain or that my heart is not in it.

Let me be clear, I will be voting to remain in the EU on the 23rd June.

And I will be campaigning for a Labour In vote from now until polling day.

Just to demonstrate how committed I am, after my speech today I am even doing an event with Peter Mandelson - so please don’t question my desire to win this campaign.

But I draw the line at sharing a platform with Tories on this issue.

Let’s be clear. The Tories are the main enemy of working people in this country.

Not the EU – the Tories.

And that is why I am opposed to a Tory Brexit.

Let’s be under no illusion that leaving the EU under a Tory government is what is on offer in the immediate aftermath of a leave vote on the 23rd June.

But we should lift our sights. There is a need for us to offer a vision of a Europe of co-operation and solidarity.

Instead of the Tory politics of fear, we need to offer a Labour politics of hope.

Let me set out the vision of Europe I have, and the issues we as Europeans need to tackle together.

We know that there are pressing issues facing us that can only be tackled effectively and justly through international co-operation.

Creating a prosperous economy where the prosperity is shared fairly by all.

Ensuring basic rights at work, wherever one chooses to work.

Tackling climate change.

Dealing with international humanitarian crises, especially where refugees are created.

The EU, with all its imperfections, provides us with that forum not just for securing that international co-operation but also translating it into effective action. 

One of the cornerstones of a prosperous and fair economy is a fair taxation system.

The shocking scale of tax evasion and avoidance has been exposed by the recent Panama leaks.

On this issue the contrast between these the Tory politics of fear and Labour’s politics of hope has been made bitterly clear over the last few months.

Tory MEPs voted, again and again, against measures at the EU level to clamp down on obscene levels of tax avoidance.

When bankers’ bonuses were threatened with a clampdown by the EU, George Osborne despatched an army of lawyers to fight the case for the bankers.

Labour MEPs have been fighting hard in the European Parliament for real action against those, whether the super-rich or major multinationals, who try and duck their responsibilities to society.

They’ve helped draw up EU-wide measures brought in in the aftermath of the “Lux Leaks” scandal, and pushed for full, public, country-by-country reporting of multinational companies accounts, right across the EU.

There’s a lot we can do on tax evasion and avoidance here at home.

But because avoiders exploit the differences in different tax systems, the most effective action is collective action.

That’s why EU-wide action on evasion and avoidance matters.

The EU has been too slack on this before.

But together with progressive parties across the continent, Labour is pushing for a clampdown on the corrosive effects of tax avoidance.

Part of Labour’s vision is to see fairness in tax systems not just here, but across the whole continent. Working people everywhere suffer when those who could and should pay their taxes choose not to.

We all want a better, fairer economy that works in the interests of the great majority.

Collaboration across borders on employment rights, industrial policy and investment is an essential part of achieving that.

Due to so many fear stories on both sides of the EU referendum debate the positive things that the EU supports, which help working people, can get missed.

For example, four weeks paid holiday entitlement, the right to maternity leave, protections on how many hours we work, and improved rights for agency workers.

All things won by the workers’ movement that the EU now helps protect, and all things the Tories and UKIP want to tear up.

The EU also currently provides huge levels of funding to businesses, universities, schools and local authorities in Britain – and at preferential rates.

The EU’s European Investment Bank is lending money to organisations at a cheaper rate than the UK Government can.

This is because the Bank has a Triple A+ credit rating, whilst the George Osborne as Chancellor has seen the UK’s credit rating downgraded.

Last year alone the UK received £5.6 billion from the EIB to help to regenerate communities and invest in infrastructure up and down the country.

The Tories have consistently blocked a National Investment Bank for Britain that might be able to supply the investment our communities and industries, particularly outside of London, so urgently need.

With a Tory Chancellor committed to actually cutting investment, that EIB funding represents a lifeline.

And when faced with the dumping of Chinese steel onto European markets at prices that under cut UK steelworkers it was the EU not the UK government that proposed new tariffs on Chinese steel.

Instead David Cameron’s party were the ones who blocked it from happening.

The EU propsed a workable, solid, continent-wide action plan on steel, before the crisis well and truly blew up last year.

This was blocked by the Tories.

Labour will stand up for the rights of workers and communities in Europe, alongside our EU partners.

We’ll take on the arguments about State Aid where we have to.

We don’t agree with using EU rules as an excuse to block progressive measures where necessary. Too often the Treasury and the Tories have used State Aid as an excuse for inaction.

Other countries don’t behave like this, whether it is the French government supporting their steel industry, or the German government supporting theirs.

But we believe in partnership, and learning from each other.

So I’ll be visiting Germany next month to see how they are driving ahead with a 21st century energy policy, with local communities taking ownership of renewable electricity generation.

Germany has set an ambitious target with 100% renewable energy production by 2050.

Local ownership of renewables, with the benefits flowing directly back to communities, is a critical part of the plan to get there.

Local ownership is happening already, so far on a smaller scale, in Britain.

Visionary councils like Preston in Lancashire are starting to think creatively about how their communities can make better and fairer use of the wealth they produce.

In Preston, this has meant looking to support workers’ co-operatives and working with major employers to support the local economy through better focused procurement.

And it’s now being backed by the EU, with Preston Council winning funding to support a network of forward-thinking local authorities across the continent.

One of the fundamental rights the EU protects for its citizens is freedom of movement.

I think this is critical. The right of working people to live and work where they choose is a hard-won gain of the labour movement.

Last Wednesday morning the former Secretary of State for Work and Pension, Ian Duncan Smith, claimed that EU immigration was hitting the low paid almost as though the previous six years of his time in office had not taken place at all.

He tried to claim he has the interests of the most vulnerable in our society at heart while he campaigns for Brexit – I don’t believe him for a second.

And Labour voters won’t be fooled by his crocodile tears and creative compassion.

This is the Secretary of State who supported cuts to the disabled, cuts to in-work benefits and introduced the bedroom tax.

But it’s not migrants that have been responsible for the attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

It has been Iain Duncan Smith himself.

By Thursday morning a report from the London School of Economics came out to completely destroy his argument. The researchers stated that the fall in wages since 2008 was due to the global financial crisis and subsequent recession.

It blew apart the anti-migrant arguments used by some of those campaigning for Brexit.

The stress on the NHS and our school system is not due to increased migration, it is due to Tory austerity.

It is the Tories who have enacted a top down reorganisation of our NHS not Bulgarian nurses.

It is Tory cuts to our schools budget, not Romanian teachers in our schools.

It is not the fault of Polish fruit pickers or Latvian care workers that house-building is at its lowest peacetime rate since the 1920s – it’s the Tory failure to build more homes.

We don’t blame the people who work in our public services, and who make such a contribution to our economy and society, for the state of those public services.

We won’t give an inch to the anti-migrant rubbish of some of those campaigning for Brexit.

Blame for the state of our public services, rising inequality, and a shaky economy should land squarely at the door of the people responsible – Number 10 Downing Street.

The Tories have been captured by UKIP. We cannot let our country be captured by them too.

There has been too much divisive talk about migration in this debate.

It’s time to tackle these arguments head on.

The honest, straight forward truth is that our country needs immigration and that rather than costing us money most migrants contribute more than they take.

HMRC last week produced figures showing that recently arrived EEA nationals paid £3 billion in taxes, yet claimed only £0.5 billion in benefits.

It helps sections of our economy too, like construction. This is a vital part of our economy that should be driving ahead if we are to tackle the housing crisis.

Oxford Economics has said that around 60% of construction firms have experienced hiring shortages of skilled labour in the last 12 months, compared with only 4% in 2013.

One survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors found that 27,000 construction projects could be impacted by the current shortage of workers by 2019, and that 66% of firms have turned work away.

Only last week we saw that the construction sector is still struggling to recover from the 2008 downturn.

Tory Brexit could make this worse.

Obviously some local communities will be affected by a sudden increase locally in immigration.

I should know as the MP for Heathrow airport.

That is why Labour has advocated for a Rapid Migration Fund to mitigate the overspills of immigration that can hit local services badly.

If you have a rapid increase in immigration locally you need an injection in funding. Instead many councils are finding themselves with massive spending cuts.

The honest, straightforward truth is that our country still has control over our borders.

For example, the most recent figures show that over 1,700 EU nationals were refused entry at UK ports last year.

The British government removed a further 3,765 EU nationals with an additional 714 who voluntarily left.

The Tory Brexiters need to answer - if that is not enough, then how many must be removed?

At what point would they be happy with these removals?

And the Tories for Brexit need to answer if tens of thousands are not enough - then how many and at what cost to their Chancellor’s fiscal plans they voted for in March?

The Conservative manifesto expressed an ambition to deliver annual net migration in the tens of thousands.

However according to the OBR supplementary documents to the Budget in March the lowest forecast for inward net migration is 105,000, which clearly breaches the Conservative manifesto.

Furthermore, the OBR forecast that such inward migration would see a budget surplus of £6.1 billion in 2019/20 suggesting that the Chancellor will miss his £10 billion surplus target unless he abandons his manifesto commitment.

Therefore, we are in the absurd situation whereby a Chancellor can only keep his own target by breaking a manifesto commitment.

And the equally absurd position of Tory Cabinet Ministers supporting the Chancellor’s Budget while calling for a Brexit under the guise of curbing immigration. But those curbs would shred Osborne’s Budget calculations to pieces – as the official forecasts show.

But those who wish to remain in the Cabinet but not the EU also lack credibility on this issue.

So when a member of the Cabinet like John Whittingdale claims the UK is “creaking at the seams”.

He can’t have it both ways.

Which does he support the most?

The immigration target or the £10 billion surplus target?

The truth is that like his Budget built on failure, the Tories’ rhetoric on immigration does not match the reality of the economics.

We should stand foursquare for freedom of movement in Europe.

The right to travel and seek employment is a fundamental one.

This is a Europe of freedom and hope, not barbed wire fences and fear.

It is the next generation who will most benefit from a closer relationship between the EU and our own country.

People of my generation have a very different view of Europe than those of our children.

Many see Europe through the prism of the Second World War and post-War period.

Today many young people regularly contemplate not just travelling around Europe to broaden their horizons, but also to work and gain skills.

Over 15,000 UK students spent up to a year in another European country during the 2013-14 academic year, up 115% since 2007.

And who can blame them with the prospect of spending more than £50,000 in three years in the UK, enrolling in other European institutions offers a cheaper alternative.

The majority of courses at universities in Austria, Finland and Sweden are free. To study in Belgium, you might pay €840 annually; in Portugal, the figure is €1,250 a year; in the Netherlands, expect to pay €1,950.

It’s not just students but also British workers with 2 million UK nationals living and working in the EU.

According to the House of Commons Library by, 2025 half a million people could have emigrated from Britain to the EU.

It used to be the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet generation of UK construction workers looking for work in the EU, but now young computer programmers and students will look to work in the EU to build up their skills base.

Those people will then return to the UK and have a huge benefit to our economy.

And it is a two-way street.

EU students at UK universities generate £3.7bn for the UK economy and support over 34,000 jobs in all corners of the country, according to analysis from Universities UK.

The opportunities for the next generation to engage and improve their skills via their increased interaction with our European neighbours is one of these positive interactions that our country makes as part of the EU.

And when they return home they have a positive effect on our economy.

It should come as no surprise that younger people rightly see the EU positively as a land of opportunities.

This new ultra-mobile generation enjoy working, travelling and studying in Europe. It’s an opportunity that past generations never had available to the same extent.

It is for them also that we need to fight to make sure we remain in the EU.

They too understand that to tackle climate change we must stay in the EU.

I just take one pressing example of an environmental issue that has hit the headlines in the recent mayoral elections and is of mounting concern to so many now.

It’s air pollution

The concern around air pollution is a good example of this positive influence that the EU makes in our day-to-day lives.

In the 1970s the UK was known as the dirty man of Europe but the EU stepped in and set strong EU-wide targets on air pollution and nitrogen dioxide levels.

My constituency includes Heathrow Airport with some of the worst polluted air in our country, so I know how big of a problem air pollution is for Londoners.

To the shame of this government we still continue to breach these targets today.

The Tories have such a bad record on air pollution that environmental law firm Client Earth have taken the Government to court for breaching EU targets - a great example of the EU holding this Government to account for the benefit of our citizens.

Let me turn to the refugee crisis.

It is the ongoing refugee crisis that should act as a spur to action for us all.

The images last summer of dead Syrian children like Alan Kurdi on the beaches of Europe shocked us all to the core.

Humanitarian crises on our doorstep warrant a large scale co-ordinated response.

The EU has served as the vital vehicle for securing agreement to a co-ordinated compassionate response.

We must not allow the right to undermine this desperately needed call to assist those in such dire need.

If you want a compassionate approach to refugees fleeing war zones then now is not the time to dilute our influence in Europe or further strengthen the right in our country.

So for me it is vital to be in the EU if we want to positively engage with the refugee crisis, tackle climate change, clamp down on tax avoidance, protect our jobs and rights at work and develop a fair and prosperous economy.

Of course an organisation representing 28 members is not perfect.

Far from it. The EU is in need of a thoroughgoing transformation.

That is why Labour is campaigning to remain but reform the EU.

And I can further understand why some on the left, following the scenes of the people in Greece voting by large majorities in referendums for clemency from EU-imposed cuts by the Troika has sent shock waves across the anti-austerity movement in Europe.

We can, and must, do better now and in the future.

Right across Europe from Germany to Greece, and from Italy to Spain, working people are seriously questioning the European Union’s democratic institutions.

Many of these institutions hold meetings behind closed doors, which involve unelected Eurocrats or politicians who are closed off from the struggles of everyday life.

But if we think we protect our sovereignty by pretending these meetings won’t still be taking place in the event of a Tory Brexit or that they still won’t affect us then we are only kidding ourselves.

As under a Tory Brexit these meetings will simply be replaced by trade deals, which we all know will also be negotiated from behind closed doors.

Right now in the EU the Tories are voting against tax avoidance measures and blocking measures to protect steelworkers’ jobs when they think we aren’t watching.

Likewise, we won’t be helping our democracy by continuing, as George Osborne wishes, for these meetings to carry on being kept in secret from the rest of us, under a Tory remain vote.

That is why I support a reformed Europe under a Labour remain vote.

And yes there is a big difference.

As when I talk about EU reform I don’t mean the ridiculous deals like the one struck by the Prime Minister to undermine workers’ rights in this country.

I want to see a more open and transparent EU by ending the secrecy that happens at the European Council and Ecofin conferences.

I want the clear light of day to act as a detergent that will rid the EU of some of its more anti-democratic structures.

And now more than at any other time in recent years there’s a growing coalition across Europe who share this desire. And who need our solidarity so we prevent the scenes we saw in Greece and across the EU.

Rather than leaving we should instead stay to make this positive case, and those of us who truly want to strengthen our sovereignty will be passing up this huge chance by voting to leave next month.

What we see time and time again is that the problems facing our country are not imported from the EU, but created by a Tory government.

For example, why is it we cannot achieve credible reform at the moment?

It is because the Tories have side-lined themselves in the European parliament by joining a separatist right-wing grouping.

By doing this they have helped to diminish the UK’s influence in the EU.

Why have many of the world’s leading institutions put our economy on watch? Because the Tory leadership needed this referendum not for our country but for their backbenchers.

The UK should be taking a lead in Europe.

Instead you have seen the embarrassing spectacle of a British Prime Minister touring Europe, not for an EU-level deal on tax avoidance.

Not for an EU-wide deal to the advantage of our steel or manufacturing sector.

But for a cheap attack on in-work benefits for a handful of low paid people just so he can pretend to be tough on immigration.

When it came to bankers’ bonuses the Chancellor jumped on a train to Brussels to defend their rights.

But when it came to steel workers he went missing.

When it came to tax avoidance he instructed his MEPs to oppose measures to clamp down on it.

The problem for our country isn’t Europe.

The problem is the Conservative Party.

And we cannot let them ruin it for the rest of us, just because there is a civil war in the Tory party.

We need Labour and its allies across Europe to fight for the reforms that will benefit working people right across the continent.

If the Tories can fight for banker’s bonuses and sweetheart deals for big business or block measures to tackle tax avoidance.

And if they can get deals to benefit their friends in the city who fund their party, while cutting deals to restrict benefits to a low paid few.

Imagine what Labour can achieve for the many.

When we go back into government, we will go in to fight for the working people of our country and not for the benefit of a rich elite.

We will use the levers available in the EU to protect our steel industry from cheap Chinese steel.

We will instruct our MEPs to vote in the European parliament on measures to help clamp down on tax avoidance by multinationals and the super-rich.

Labour would use the EU to give power to the British people and stand up to bullying multinationals

Not cut us off and expose us to its very worst.

I want to end by saying that yes there are plenty of things to fear from a Tory Brexit.

But there are more positives under a Labour Remain.

You can trust remaining in the EU under Labour as we know how to achieve the reforms needed, and where there’s limits to our relationship with the EU.

For example, one of the few things that Gordon Brown and I agreed on was that it was vital Labour kept the UK out of adopting the Euro.

Preventing Peter Mandelson from getting his own way was a shared goal then.

And if we hadn’t done this it would have meant that when the global financial crisis hit our economy we would have not had a floating exchange rate or independent monetary policy.

Due to this decision by the Labour Party it meant in dealing with the crisis we were better placed than we could have been.

It is an example of how you can trust Labour in government to keep the UK safe in the EU.

And what’s more under a Jeremy Corbyn Labour government you can trust us on Europe.

As the Leave campaign like to remind everyone of the voting records of me and Jeremy Corbyn, let me help them.

It shows we are prepared to stand up for what we believe in.

And on the EU it shows we clearly don’t agree with it on everything or without reform.

Whereas a Tory Brexit opens the door to the prospects of more austerity and more uncertainty.

It is a future that is more complex and unpredictable than the new voting system of the Eurovision song contest.

Whereas there are plenty more things you can be certain to look forward to under remaining in the EU under a Labour government.

Labour under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn has a different vision for Europe.

One where we protect and advance worker’s rights, take on the tax avoiders, get to grips with Climate Change, and protect our industries like steel and reform the institutions of the EU from a position of strength as a Labour Party in the EU.

That is why I will be campaigning for the UK to be stronger in the European Union under a Labour government.

ENDS