European Council

Gavin Shuker Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will look carefully at what my hon. Friend has said. Clearly, the freedoms of the European Union—the freedom to trade, free movement of capital and free movement of people—have all been important in trying to deliver the economic growth and success we want to see. I will make two points. First, when new members have joined we have been able to put in place transitional controls, and in my view we should always do that. Secondly—this was examined when there was a greater sense of crisis in the eurozone—there are rules that can be invoked in a time of crisis if we need to abrogate those freedoms in some way.

[Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Can the Prime Minister ever imagine Britain leaving the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

That is not a position I support, so I do not spend my time thinking about it, but clearly all futures for Britain are imaginable—we are in charge of our own destiny and can make our own choices. I believe that the choice we should make is to stay in the European Union, to be a member of the single market and to maximise our impact in Europe, but when we are unhappy with parts of the relationship we should not be frightened of standing up and saying so. As I have said, we have got out of the bail-out power. I think that we made a mistake joining the social chapter. We should be prepared to have these discussions. The fact that we are not in the Schengen agreement is not a disaster for Britain; it is a bonus for Britain. The fact that we are not in the single currency is not a disaster for Britain; it is a bonus for Britain. That is the sort of Europe we should be pushing for.