A democratic-socialist MEP from Germany opined that Britain will not be the last member state to leave the European Union should the bloc continue prioritizing “corporate interests” above its citizens.
During the debate on the UK-EU withdrawal agreement on Wednesday afternoon, Martin Schirdewan, the co-chair of the socialist Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament, said that Brexit will be a harbinger of things to come for the EU.
“I somehow fear that Britain may not be the last member state to leave the European Union, but the first. If the EU does not change its political cause, more member states might follow”, said the German MEP.
Mr Schirdewan said that the European Union prioritizes “corporate interests” over that of its own citizens, adding that the bloc has allowed “big companies to dominate our lives and our politics.”
“That dominance destroys our environment, economy, our public services, our streets, our local libraries, our railways, our post offices, our schools, our entire social fabric”, Schirdewan warned.
“So don’t be surprised that the next time we sit here to lament the departure of another member state. Britain may be the first, but it may not be the last. Brexit should be the wake-up call that we must finally put people and planet before profit in Europe”, Schirdewan concluded.
The speech by Schirdewan echoes left-wing opposition to the European Union, dating back to 1962 when the former leader of the UK Labour Party Hugh Gaitskell warned that joining the Common Market “would be the end of Britain as an independent European state”.
Jeremy Corbyn’s mentor, famed socialist Tony Benn once said of the bloc: “When I saw how the European Union was developing, it was very obvious what they had in mind was not democratic. In Britain, you vote for a government so the government has to listen to you, and if you don’t like it you can change it.”
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