No2EU

No2EU
Founded 19 March 2009 (2009-03-19)[1]
Ideology Euroscepticism
Socialism
Political position Left wing
Colours      Dark grey
Slogan Yes to Workers' Rights
Website
www.no2eu.com

No2EU is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance[lower-alpha 1] in the United Kingdom. It was first founded in 2009 when it campaigned under the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Democracy; it was led by Bob Crow and backed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the Communist Party of Britain and Solidarity (Scotland) among others. It participated in the 2009 European Parliament elections and the European elections in 2014 with the party name "No2EU"[2] and the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Workers' Rights.[3]

Summary of main policies

No2EU's declared position is for a Europe of "democratic states that value public services and does not offer them to profiteers; a Europe that guarantees the rights of workers and does not put the interests of big business above that of ordinary people".[4] This, it contested, is impossible within the current European Union structure and it calls for a withdrawal from the EU.[5] In keeping with its socialist position it campaigns for public ownership of some national industries[6] and investment in public services.[7]

It is hostile to fascist politics,[5][8] acting as an 'internationalist alternative'[9] to the perceived xenophobic positions of existing far-right eurosceptic parties. Tensions arising from the free movement of labour are explained as an economic issue, for example Bob Crow has stated that he is against "two workers from different countries competing against each other on different rates of pay".[10]

History

No2EU – Yes to Democracy was initiated by the RMT to contest the June 2009 European Parliament elections. In addition to the RMT, the coalition included:

This was notable as the first instance in recent history of a British trade union officially putting its support behind a national electoral presence other than the Labour Party,[12] though the RMT had set some precedent in Scotland when it backed the Scottish Socialist Party.[13]

2009 European Parliament election

No2EU received 153,236 votes[14] or 1% of the national vote, winning no seats and finishing in 11th place behind Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party. The alliance only fielded candidates in Great Britain, none in Northern Ireland.[15] The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows:

ConstituencyCandidatesVotes%
East Midlands John McEwan, Avtar Sadiq, Jean Thorpe, Shangara Singh Gahonia, Laurence Platt 11,375 0.9
East of England Brian Denny, Frank Jepson, Steve Glennon, Phil Katz, Eleanor Donne, Pete Relph, Ron Rodwell 13,939 0.9
London Bob Crow, John Hendy, Mary Davis, Kevin Nolan, Syed Islam, Onay Kasab, John Rowe, Nick Wrack 17,758 1.0
North East England Martin Levy, Hannah Walter, Peter Pinkney 8,066 1.4
North West England Roger Bannister, Les Skarrot, Craig Johnston, Alec McFadden, Steve Radford, Lynn Worthington, John Metcalfe, Harry Smith 23,580 1.4
South East England Dave Hill, Garry Hassell, Kevin Hayes, Owen Morris, Gawain Little, Robert Wilkinson, Jacqui Berry, Nick Wright, Nick Chaffey, Sarah Wrack[16] 21,455 0.9
South West England Alex Gordon, Roger Davey, Rachel Lynch, Nick Quirk, John Chambers, Paul Dyer 9,741 0.6
West Midlands David Nellist, Dyal Singh Bagri, Malcolm Gribbin, Jo Stevenson, Peter MacLaren, Andy Chaffer[17] 13,415 1.0
Yorkshire and the Humber Keith Gibson, Celia Foote, Jackie Grunsell, Peter March, Mike Davies, Juliet Marie Boddington 15,614 1.3
Scotland John Foster, Tommy Sheridan, Leah Ganley, Stuart Hyslop, Ajit Singh Uppal, Tom Morrison 9,693 0.9
Wales Robert Griffiths, Rob Williams, Laura Picand, Trevor Jones [18] 8,600 1.3
Total 153,236 1.0

After the election, activity dwindled and the campaign was statutorily de-registered by the Electoral Commission on 2 November 2010.

2014 European Parliament election

On 16 October 2013, the campaign re-registered with the Electoral Commission, consisting of an alliance of the RMT, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Britain, ready to contest the 2014 European Parliament election.[19][20] For 2014, the slate used the party name of "No2EU"[2] and the campaign slogan No2EU – Yes to workers' rights.[21]

No2EU – Yes to Workers' Rights stood 46 candidates in seven regions in the 22 May euro election including London, North West, Eastern, Wales, Scotland, Yorks and Humber and West Midlands.

The candidates were as follows:

ConstituencyCandidatesVotes%
East of England Brian Denny, Eleanor Donne, Steve Glennon, David Goode, Leonardo Impett, Teresa MacKay, Emily Thompson-Golding 4,870 0.3
London Edward Dempsey, Alex Gordon, April Ashley, Annie Ngemi, Mary Davis, Paula Mitchell, Natasha Hoarau,[22] Michael Carty 3,804 0.2
North West England Roger Bannister, George Waterhouse, Jacqueline Grunsell, John Metcalfe, George Tapp, Mark Rowe, James Healy, Kevin Morrison 5,402 0.3
West Midlands Dave Nellist, Pat Collins, Joanne Stevenson, Sophia Hussain, Paul Reilly, Andy Chaffer, Amanda Marfleet 4,653 0.3
Yorkshire and the Humber Trevor Howard, Mary Jackson, Carrie Hedderwick, Adrian O’Malley, Steven Andrew, Iain Dalton 3,807 0.3
Scotland John Foster, Andrew Elliot, Murdo Maclean, Gail Morrow, Brian Smith, Ritchie Veitch 6,418 0.5
Wales Robert Griffiths, Claire Job, Steve Skelly, Laura Picand 2,803 0.4
Total 31,757 0.2

Notes

  1. ↑ For legal reasons the No2EU alliance is registered as a political party in its own right.

References

  1. ↑ "A battle for democracy". Morning Star (People's Press Printing Society). 20 March 2009. p. 2.
  2. 1 2 "Regulated entity profile: No2EU". Retrieved 4 February 2014. Use the Registration Search function to search for 'No2EU' and click on the EC Reference Number (PP 2164) to display registration details.
  3. ↑ "Bob Crow launches 'workers against EU'". Daily Express. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "About No2EU". 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 "No2EU says" (PDF). exit left. No2EU. 2013. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "No2EU?". Off the Rails. Alliance for Workers Liberty. 2 July 2009. The platform calls for nationalisation of a few industries (railways, post office, NHS and energy).
  7. ↑ Crow, Bob (27 May 2009). No2EU - Yes to Democracy election broadcast (television broadcast). BBC One. Event occurs at 2:33. we call for more investment in public services
  8. ↑ "RMT members clash with BNP in Carlisle". RMT. 11 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Griffiths, Robert (9 April 2009). "New left openings?". Morning Star (People's Press Printing Society). p. 8.
  10. ↑ Wheeler, Brian (22 May 2009). "Crow launches NO2EU euro campaign". BBC News.
  11. ↑ "Communists plan for EU elections". Morning Star (People's Press Printing Society). 25 May 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Socialist Party on No2EU". Socialist Unity website. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Rail union breaks with Labour". BBC News. 7 February 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "European Election Results 2009, UK Results". BBC News. 19 April 2009.
  15. ↑ "candidates". No2EU. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Workers' Candidates For a Workers' Europe". No2EU - Yes To Democracy, South East Region. 10 May 2009.
  17. ↑ "New EU election candidates named". Dudley News. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009.
  18. ↑ "No2EU – Yes to Democracy declares slate of candidates for June 4th vote". Socialist Resistance.
  19. ↑ "No2EU, yes to workers' rights". RMT.
  20. ↑ Denny, Brian (6 September 2013). "Bob Crow explains why No2EU is standing in 2014 elections". RMT.
  21. ↑ Bob Crow (10 September 2013). "2014 European Parliament Elections Support "NO2EU – Yes to Workers' Rights". RMT. Retrieved 4 February 2014. That we note the Political Sub Committee have met to discuss this campaign on three occasions and we note the campaign name has now changed to ‘NO2EU – YES TO WORKERS RIGHTS.’
  22. ↑ Replacing her late father Bob Crow
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