EEF offers vote of confidence in EU membership

Responding to an announcement by Business for Britain that it wants to "liberate 95% of UK businesses from EU regulation", Steve Radley, director of policy at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said: "The UK cannot pick and mix, choosing EU rules to accept and reject – this is what a red-card process would amount to. "Many British companies that do not export their goods into the single market rely on the EU for their skilled workers, or operate in a supply chain, with other businesses that do trade with Europe. The benefits of the EU are not then confined to businesses that sell into the single market. "Poorly crafted regulation from Europe can be harmful, but the UK needs to continue to work from within the EU to secure a lighter-touch for SMEs and exemptions for the smallest businesses. With the future of the UK at stake, the debate on Europe needs to be rational and objective. Today's announcement fell far short of what was required." Business for Britain has published proposals showing how companies that do not export to the EU and do not need access to the single market could be exempted from the most burdensome EU regulations. The authors said the UK opted out of several political aspects of the single market and suggested that "UK taxpayer's money saved by this plan should be reinvested in new UK trade missions across the world to promote Britain as a global trading nation and help create jobs".