Campaign Briefing Book

January 2018
Message from the Campaign Co-Chairs

When the referendum took place in June 2016, nobody voted to put jobs at risk, prolong
austerity or tear up our rights at work or as consumers. But all of this damage is
precisely now on the cards if the Tories are allowed to pursue the hardest of hard
Brexits. The Labour Party has to stop them.

The Labour Campaign for the Single Market seeks to shift Labour Party policy into
one of unequivocal support for staying in the Single Market (by remaining a member of
the European Economic Area) and a European Customs Union.

The current stated policy of the Labour front bench is to remain in the Single Market
and Customs Union for a time limited transition period and to keep all options on the
table for the UK’s longer term arrangement.

Staying in the Single Market and Customs Union is not just the right policy for the
next few years – it needs to be extend to the next few decades! Whilst some might
argue (with some merit) that the easiest way to stay in the Single Market and
Customs Union is to stay in the European Union, the Labour Party needs to find a
way to bring the country together.

Whether you voted Leave or Remain, if you want to stand up for our rights and our
jobs, staying in the Single Market and a Customs Union is the best way to do it. Over 3
million jobs rely on trade with the EU and the single market ensures similar standards
for workers across the continent.

If you want to be able to fund the anti-austerity manifesto that Labour put before the
public in 2017, then preventing the multibillion pound hit to the public finances that
leaving the single market would bring is essential. Some projections suggest a reversion
to WTO rules would reduce net UK tax receipts by as much as £45bn a year. That would
mean far less money for our schools, local government, social care and our hospitals.

And if you want to stop a race to the bottom across Europe - on taxes for big
businesses, the environment or consumer standards – the collective action enshrined in
the single market offers the best chance of doing so.

In this short handbook, we set out some of the arguments that led to the creation of
this campaign and explain the many ways in which you can become practically involved
in it.

Together, we can change Labour policy on this vital issue for our country’s future but
time is running short. At stake, the party’s ability to fund the manifesto promises it set
out in the 2017 election, and the chance to develop a Labour approach to Brexit that
serves the interests of the many, not the few.

If you agree with us, please do everything you can to help!

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Thank you.

Heidi Alexander MP
Alison McGovern MP
Co-Chairs, Labour Campaign for the Single Market

CAMPAIGN ISSUE BRIEF

What is the Single Market? Can you be IN it whilst being OUT of

the EU?
Countries which are members of the European Union or the European Economic Area
(Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) are said to be ‘members’ of the Single Market. It is a
collection of rules, standards and agreements which protect customers, workers and
the environment while providing a level playing field for European businesses to trade
with as few impediments as possible within Europe. These standardised rules allow
European exporters who meet these standards to trade in every single member
country.

What is the Customs Union?

The Customs Union negates all internal tariffs, whilst establishing a common external
tariff. If we were to leave the Customs Union, and in the absence of any deal which
replicates the terms of the existing Customs Union, then tariffs could apply to goods
leaving the UK and entering the EU and vice-versa. The cost of making customs
declarations would fall on businesses and new bureaucracy could slow down the import
and export of components which are part of complex manufacturing supply chains. It
would be the biggest imposition of trade barriers in a generation.

Would single market membership prevent a future Labour

government from ending austerity?
NO. THE OPPOSITE.

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There is an important difference between countries in the Eurozone and those outside
it. In the Eurozone, monetary policy and interest rates are set by the European Central
Bank and member states have signed up to sanctions within the Stability and Growth
Pact, which limits the size of a country’s budget deficit. When the financial crisis hit,
several member states in the eurozone – particularly Greece, but also others – were put
under tremendous pressure to cut public spending and raise taxes.

None of this would apply to the UK if we stay in the Single Market. We would still not be
members of the Eurozone, and would therefore not be subject to any enforcement
mechanisms under the Stability and Growth Pact. We can and would still be able to set
whatever overall level of taxes, spending or borrowing we wished.

As proof of this point, just consider that public spending as a proportion of GDP varies
widely within the EU and Single Market countries. The UK’s public expenditure is about
40% of GDP, whereas in Ireland it is about 30%, in Germany it is around 44%, and in
Denmark, France or Norway it is about, or over, 50%. If a future Labour government
wished to increase public spending there is clearly scope to do so – inside or outside the
Single Market.

Exiting the single market, on the other hand, and especially a hard Brexit reversion to
trading with the EU on WTO rules, could reduce net UK tax receipts by an estimated
£45bn a year, or £225bn over a single parliament. Labour’s entire 2017 general election
manifesto was costed by the party at £48bn. Leaving the single market would
undermine Labour’s ability to implement the programme it put to the country just a few
months ago.

Does single market membership prevent a future Labour

government from renationalising key industries?
NO.

The rules of the Single Market do not prevent public ownership. Indeed, national
governments across the EU have ownership stakes in many sectors including energy,
rail and water companies. In only three EU Member States does the State not own
companies providing rail freight services and in only one does the State not own
companies providing passenger services. In every Member State of the EU, the State
owns the rail network. Contrary to some claims, compensation for nationalisation is
also a matter for UK law informed by the European Convention of Human Rights, not EU
Law. So, the Single Market is not an impediment to a future Labour government
renationalising the railways or other key industries.

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Does the single market play any role in protecting workers’
rights or would we be better placed to strengthen those rights
outside it?
The decision by the Labour government in 1997 to opt in to the Social Chapter
represents, without doubt, the greatest step forward for employment rights in this
country in the modern era.

Improving standards within member states and, crucially, creating a level playing field
across the continent, the Social Chapter was, and remains, one of the great
achievements of the European project. As the late former foreign secretary Robin Cook
said in 1997, taking Britain into the Social Chapter, five years after the previous
Conservative government had refused to do so, was a statement that “we do not accept
that the British people should be second-class citizens with less rights than employees
on the continent.”

Whilst there is still much more to be done, the Single Market is continually being
strengthened, not least through the steps now being taken to stamp out the
undercutting of workers and clamp down on companies that do not play by the rules.
Leaving is likely to result in a divergence in standards, creating an unlevel playing field
and paving the way for this or any future Tory government to scrap key protections.

Does single market membership mean accepting a free

movement “free for all”?
NO.

Freedom of movement within the EU is not an unconditional right. There are significant
restrictions within EU law that could be applied. It is Britain’s ongoing failure to use
such safeguards fully and, where appropriate, send back those with no right to remain,
which has created the impression that free movement is a free-for-all. Other EU
Member States ask thousands of people to leave their country every year.

It is also worth remembering that whilst the UK has a more liberal immigration regime
for people coming from within the EU and European Economic Area, it has very strict
controls on immigration from countries which account for the other 90% of the world’s
population.

EU rules state that, after three months, EU citizens in an EU country other than their
own must be in employment, continuing to seek employment or have a genuine chance
of gaining employment, and/or be able to show that they have sufficient resources not
to be a burden on public funds and possess health insurance if they wish to remain.
Individuals can also be excluded or expelled in the event of abuse or fraud, and other
serious criminal offences. Furthermore, EU migrants are not automatically entitled to

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claim benefits in the UK. They must meet a number of requirements, which could be
better enforced, or even tightened.

And let’s also remember that the overwhelming majority of EU migrants are working,
bring innovation and energy to our economy, helping to fuel growth and make a net tax
contribution, which allows us to invest in the public services and the infrastructure we
need.

Has membership of the single market damaged the

environment?
NO.

The EU and its single market has been an overwhelmingly positive force for the
environment - strengthening legislation, preventing a race to the bottom and driving
forward collective European and global action on climate change. It is this government,
not the EU, that is a threat to the environment. If the UK leaves the single market, the
Tory government will be free to strip environmental protection laws away and allow an
environmental free for all in search of competitive advantage. In the single market, we
would be obliged to preserve the environmental protections in place across the EU. This
would not only be good for the environment in the UK but it would stop Britain leading
a charge to the bottom on environmental standards across the continent.

Want to find out more?

Visit our website, at www.labour4singlemarket.org or email us, on
admin@laboursinglemarket.org for more information.

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 6 Ways to Get Involved in the Campaign

1. Sign the petition for a change to Labour policy.

You can add your name to the call for a change to party policy via our website here:
http://www.labour4singlemarket.org/sign_the_petition

When you sign up, we will add you to our campaign mailing list so you are kept up to
date with our activities.

2. Recruit 3 other party members to sign the petition along with you!

3. Submit a motion to your CLP.

If you can, submit a motion to your CLP, to amplify the voice of members that want us
to remain in the Single Market and the Customs Union. Email your CLP secretary to find
out how your local party deals with motions. On the next page, we have provided a
model motion you could use for this purpose.

4. Request a Labour Campaign for the Single Market Speaker for your CLP
meeting.

This is another way to help get the issues in front of party members in your area. We
don’t want this debate to be conducted on the pages of the Guardian – it needs to
happen in your local meetings. If you want us to organise a speaker for your CLP or
branch meeting, email us on admin@laboursinglemarket.org and let us now. If you can,
please give us plenty of notice and if you want an MP to speak, it’s better to organise
your meetings for a Thursday or Friday night or the weekend.

5. Consider making a small donation to campaign funds

We are a member driven and led campaign. All donations, however small, enable us to
engage in more campaign activity in pursuit of our overall goal. You can make a
donation by clicking on the Donate button on the campaign home page at
http://www.labour4singlemarket.org/

6. Follow us, and retweet/share campaign messages on social media!

Find us on Twitter @Laboursinglemkt or on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/labour4singlemarket

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Can you think of other ways in which you could help? Have any suggestions? Email us!
admin@laboursinglemarket.org

Example Motion to submit to CLPs and branches:

This Constituency Labour Party:

Notes the stated position of the Labour Party is to remain in the single market
and customs union for a transition period following the UK’s withdrawal from the
EU and to keep all options on the table beyond transition;

Further notes the Treasury estimate that the central net effect on tax receipts
long term would be a £36 billion a year loss in the event of a Canada-EU style
negotiated bilateral agreement, or a £45bn a year loss in the case of a hard
Brexit adoption of WTO trade rules;

Believes such losses of revenue would be devastating to local and national public
services that are already under massive pressure;

Therefore, calls upon the Labour Party to adopt an unequivocal policy of

remaining long term in a European Customs Union and in the Single Market (by
remaining part of the European Economic Area) in order to limit the economic
damage associated with Brexit.

And resolves that the Chair of this CLP submits a copy of this motion to the Chair
of the National Policy Forum, with a request that permanent single market and
customs union membership should be adopted as Labour Party Policy.

Note:

(If your CLP passes this motion, please send it to policyforum@labour.org.uk with
a copy to us or you can send it by mail to Ann Cryer, Chair of the National Policy
Forum, The Labour Party, Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QT)

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 Get in touch.

Email

admin@laboursinglemarket.org

Website

www.labour4singlemarket.org

Twitter

@laboursinglemkt

Facebook

facebook.com/labour4singlemarket

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