The Communist Party and the Association of Indian Communists in Britain have condemned Prime Minister David Cameron’s ‘cynical obsession’ with immigration and migrant workers in his renegotiation of EU membership. In a joint statement issued after day-long talks in Leicester during the last weekend, the two organisations accuse Cameron of reducing the vital question of Britain’s future governance to ‘a squalid squabble over in-work benefits for workers from overseas’.
‘Instead of discussing how EU treaties and institutions seek to enforce austerity, promote privatisation and block left and progressive policies in member states, the Tory government appeals to prejudice in order to shrink the welfare state and win a referendum to stay in the EU’, the CPB and AIC (GB) declared. AIC (GB) secretary Harsev Bains warned that imposing a work qualification period of up to four years on in-work benefits for migrant workers could be extended to all workers in future. ‘Mr Cameron would be better employed demanding the repeal of EU Court of Justice rulings against national legislation and trade union action to secure equal terms and conditions for employees imported by multinational corporations’, Mr Bains added.
Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths insisted that any genuine EU renegotiation would include such issues as state support for industries in crisis and freedom for national governments to use central banks and public sector borrowing to fund infrastructure investment.’Mr Cameron wants to defend his party’s City of London paymasters from even the mildest EU regulation and taxation, rather than save the steel industry in Britain’, he argued.
Both communist organisations made clear their support for equal rights and entitlements for all workers, for state and trade union regulation of labour as well capital rather than ‘free movement anarchy under capitalism’, an end to all racist immigration controls and for immediate asylum in Britain for tens of thousands of children and other vulnerable refugees presently camped in Europe. ‘As communists, our opposition to capitalism and neo-liberalism and our commitment to working class unity means that we will be campaigning together against EU membership’, Mr Griffiths announced.
The CP and AIC also urged full support for a House of Commons lobby on February 10, organised by the Indian Workers Association (GB), calling for income thresholds preventing low-paid workers from bringing their children to Britain to be lowered.