Julian Brazier
Main Page: Julian Brazier (Conservative - Canterbury)Department Debates - View all Julian Brazier's debates with the Cabinet Office
(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and Labour Members who say that that is not the case clearly have not read the policy document of the European Socialists party to which they belong, which calls for scrapping the UK rebate, increasing the budget, and imposing new EU taxes. That is what the Labour Members’ group stands for.
Mr Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con)
On the subject of influence within the EU, does my right hon. Friend agree that quite a number of countries in the eurozone might benefit from talking to a country that has generated 1 million private sector jobs over the past three or four years?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes an important point: there is a big range across Europe in how effectively our labour markets function, and if we look at unemployment rates—particularly youth unemployment— we see that the contrast between some of the best performing countries such as Holland, and the worst such as Spain and Italy, is very marked. The UK is not, I am afraid, among the best performing countries, but we should aim to be.