The referendum next Thursday gives us a wonderful opportunity to kill two birds with one vote. Our city and people have been damaged by unnecessary assault after assault by this Conservative Government, from the wicked bedroom tax to extreme cuts and austerity.
The Prime Minster, the Chancellor and the Conservative government would not survive a Brexit vote. It is the equivalent of a no confidence vote from the whole of the country. Labour voters know this and are voting in their millions to leave the European Union.
Unfortunately many of my Labour colleagues in the Commons are showing less political nouse than our traditional supporters and are extolling the supposed benefits of the EU. On examination many of these claims turn out to be false.
Read more: EU Referendum: 'Northerners don't quit' Sir Richard Leese and George Osborne team up to urge In vote
Supporters of the EU tell us that projects in Manchester and the north west have been supported by EU money. This is nonsense. For every £100 we give to the EU we get a mere £40 back. We could have twice as much investment if we left the EU.
We are told that the EU protects workers’ rights. Look at Greece; collective bargaining rights withdrawn, pensions destroyed and privatisation enforced. Almost unnoticed the European Court of Justice has made decisions to undermine national minimum wage legislation and the right to strike (the Lavell and Viking decisions).
If we weren’t in the EU we certainly wouldn’t join. Why should we give control of the majority of our laws and borders to 27 other countries and then be billed a gross amount of £350m a week for this privilege?
Some campaigners tell us that the EU can be reformed to be more democratic and transparent. This is a dishonest fantasy. The Prime Minister failed completely to get the reforms he claimed he wanted. This at the time when the EU was at its weakest, fearing our withdrawal because they need our money.
Next Thursday should be a historic moment when we can finish off Cameron and Osborne and all their works ensuring we become a self-governing, democratic nation again in control of our own laws, borders and money by voting LEAVE.
