James Duddridge, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, issues a statement on Europe.
“I am a eurosceptic. Britain today has the most eurosceptic Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary since Britain entered the European Economic Community. The Conservative Party is the most eurosceptic it has ever been. William Hague, when he was Conservative Leader in the 1990’s, launched the ‘Save the Pound’ campaign which stopped Tony Blair taking us into the Euro. Blair would have sold us out for a job as the President of Europe.
Against this backdrop we have inherited a poor state of affairs on Europe, and on so many other things after 13 years of labour rule. We have to remember that we are in coalition, a deal that was made in the national interest, rather than the Party interest. A difficult decision, but the right decision. Despite this, in less than 18 months we avoided being sucked into Euro bail-out mechanism which the last Labour Government got us into. We have brought in legislation to ensure that treaty changes cannot happen again without a national referendum. We are now looking to repatriate powers from the European Union.
I would strongly urge anyone considering voting for UKIP at the ballot box, either at the next local or general election, not to. A vote for UKIP in the next general election is a cross in the box for Labour. It will further split the vote in marginal constituencies, and let Labour in through the back door. A vote for UKIP helps labour, it always has.
Centre right eurosceptics should be pulling together to ensure we win the next election outright and can shed the obligations and constraints of coalition Government. We need a strong Conservative Government with a mandate to do even more than we can do over the next 3 years of this parliament.
Repatriation of powers is the priority that eurosceptics should be focusing on. This work is happening in government. As part of that government the voice of Rochford and Southend East is heard. I might not be on the radio or on the TV but I am fighting the eurosceptic cause from inside government. This is the right thing to do, it is the responsible thing to do, it is the most effective thing to do – even when it might be more popular to shout from the treetops outside government.”
ENDS