Sir – John Tanner is one of our more active Labour councillors, deserving respect for regularly attending protests, demonstrations, and for speaking out against right wing extremists, but his views on the EU (Letters, May 14) are surely misguided.

He quotes a trade union saying “united we stand, divided we fall” but fails to acknowledge the damage done to the labour movement and working class by the Troika, of the EU, European Central Bank and IMF.

The idea that the EU has been good for jobs or manufacturing is laughable. Britain has lost almost all of its manufacturing capacity as the Thatcher government and its successors destroyed industry to break the power of organised labour and shifted the economy to the service of a swollen financial sector.

EU directives demanding the privatisation of state-owned assets have stripped elected governments of the right to plan and direct their economies, while the privateers themselves have cut jobs in order to boost profits. The free movement of capital, one of the key pillars of the entire EU project, has been instrumental in allowing companies to outsource work to countries where wages are lower – with terrible consequences for British jobs.

With every passing year the unelected European Commission and the ECB’s power over the governments of Europe grows. Their agenda of endless privatisation, ‘flexibility’ in the form of poorer working conditions, lower wages and mass unemployment offers nothing for the working class.

The only option for the labour movement is an Exit Left strategy, saying No2EU, Yes to Workers’ Rights.

Chris Davis
Oxford