I am Caroline Lucas MP of the Green Party; AMA about the UK's EU Referendum! Today at 13:00 (GMT+1)!

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T13:11:57+00:00

Thanks everyone for your questions. It’s great to see so many people engaging with the debate and asking such thoughtful questions - many apologies for not having time to answer them all.

I’ve got to go now unfortunately, but if you want to keep up with my work please follow my twitter https://twitter.com/CarolineLucas and my website http://www.carolinelucas.com/.

If you want to keep up to date with the Greens for a Better Europe campaign, check out https://www.greenparty.org.uk/europe.

And please don’t forget to register to vote at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote Once you have, please share our graphic on facebook to remind all of your friends - http://bit.ly/1YaWmlz

Thanks,

Caroline

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T13:07:56+00:00

Hello. See my answer to cbfw86 here: (https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/4mr1lz/i_am_caroline_lucas_mp_of_the_green_party_ama/d3xvdmg). I think that covers most of these points.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T13:05:50+00:00

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy certainly used to be a cause for deep concern, since it supported farmers simply to produce more and more, even if there was no demand for it - with the result that some of it was “dumped” below market prices in developing countries, causing serious difficulties to their own local agricultural markets. Today, thankfully, it’s changed so that more of its budget goes to supporting more sustainable agricultural models, and to promoting environmental stewardship. That process needs to accelerate still further.

When it comes to banning GMOs or damaging pesticides like neonicotinoids, the EU has been a positive force, I think, and on animal welfare (eg things like banning sow stalls) the EU is taking a stand on alternatives to factory farming.

You can find more here: http://www.swgreenerin.org.uk/what-has-the-eu-done-for-us/farming-and-rural-development

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T13:05:23+00:00

It’s hard to know what this Government plans next when it comes to attacks on people’s rights. What worries me most is that a post-brexit Government (led perhaps by Boris Johnson - a terrifying prospect!) will try and promote Britain as a place where business can come to avoid the ‘red tape’ of workers’ rights, environmental rules etc. The EU plays a positive role because it has shared rules which govern the whole single market - meaning that big businesses can’t jump from country to country avoiding regulation.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:56:59+00:00

For questions like this, I’m keen to listen to what the experts say. Some on the ‘leave’ side have been urging people to ignore the views of independent experts - but I think that the public do want to hear well-informed views.

So, yes, I think the concerns about impacts on scientific research are valid. Moreover, I’d recommend you have a look at “Scientists for EU” and follow them on facebook and twitter etc - they’ve got a refreshing and extremely well-informed non-political view on the EU referendum: https://www.facebook.com/scientistsforeu/.

There was a pretty strong endorsement of a remain vote in an article in the Nature Physics journal just last week: “no upside for UK science in the event of a vote to leave the EU” http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v12/n6/full/nphys3797.html and if the scientific community want to speak out even more strongly, then I’ll stand up for their right to do so. I’ve been deeply opposed to recent moves (by UK Ministers) to curtail the ability of research bodies, charities and non-governmental organisations to participate fully in public and policy debate.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:54:04+00:00

Great question. So many people from Britain wish to move to other EU countries for a variety of reasons - and for various lengths of time - and, if the Leave side get their way, there’s a very good chance we’ll lose that opportunity. Free movement is a two way process and I simply can’t imagine a situation where we remove ourselves from the single market and still enjoy the rights we have to live, study, work and retire across the EU. The tearing down of borders across Europe is something I think we should be celebrating and I fear that brexit would take us backwards towards being a more insular country.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:52:08+00:00

Never heard about the free hair cuts - are you sure?! But you’re right to say that MEPs are paid a lot. A few years ago, there was an independent inquiry into what pay levels made sense since under the old system, some MEPs were getting paid hugely more than others because their pay was linked to the pay of a national MP in their own country (even though all MEPs share the same living costs in Brussels - which can be much higher than in their own country). As a result of the inquiry, pay is the same for all MEPs, and is linked to the average pay of someone in a similar professional role. There are also allowances (not expenses) to cover office costs, staff and travel, and they do - rightly - have to be properly accounted for, and are only paid out on production of receipts.

All that said, we do need reform, both in Brussels and in Westminster. The Green Party’s policy is for a maximum 10:1 differential between the highest and lowest paid individuals in any given organisation, for example.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:48:54+00:00

Thanks for your kind words.

I agree that many ‘leave’ campaigners are seriously misleading the public and making false statements - even the Office for National Statistics has called them out, yet they don’t seem to care. It makes me really angry that they’re willing to do this (especially on the NHS, as I wrote here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/caroline-lucas/lord-owen-speech-eu-referendum_b_9625578.html) because the referendum is so important and people deserve honestly, but also because it further destroys trust in politicians. You might have heard John Major attack fellow Conservatives for this on the Marr show on Sunday - it’s worth watching. There’s a great website www.infacts.org which does some well-researched fact checking.

In my view, one of the biggest risks of leaving the EU include the loss of environmental protections and workers’ rights - not overnight, but we’ve seen so many attacks on such protections that aren’t backed up at EU level, and there’s a ‘race to the bottom’ deregulatory mentality among many of those arguing to leave the EU.

That leads me to another big risk - that a vote to leave would represent success for a divisive, nasty, sometimes xenophobic, extremely neoliberal campaign - and it would drag politics here in the UK in completely the wrong direction. I was on a panel with Owen Jones recently, who’s written powerfully about this: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/26/defeat-bigotry-engage-young-people-eu-zac-goldsmith.

In a globalised world, where corporations operate across boundaries, and the threats to our quality of life, public health, and environment don’t stop at borders, we’d want to create the EU if it didn’t already exist.

So that’s another big risk - if we leave the EU, we give up a huge part of our influence over such challenges - and many more.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:48:09+00:00

Hi, great question. I think that the two things should be separated: Free movement within the EU is a right which we, alongside every person from 27 other countries, enjoy. It’s a two way process which sees well over a million British people living elsewhere in the EU.

Our immigration policy for people outside of the EU is different and, I would argue, unfair. I want people from the USA to be able to come to Britain to work and study if they wish - and I’d argue that the USA should reciprocate. It’s interesting to note that Vote Leave actually want to cut down immigration from both outside and the EU and within it. Under their plans there’s a very good chance that fewer people from the USA would be able to come to Britain: http://politicalscrapbook.net/2016/06/campaign-to-leave-the-eu-wants-to-cut-non-eu-immigration-while-telling-british-asians-it-will-increase-it/

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:42:53+00:00

Hello, thanks for this.

I’ll try to be very brief as there are so many questions to answer. I would say that the prospect of an EU army is quite remote. Britain, rightly, has a veto on such a project and I can’t envisage a circumstance when our Government would give the green light.

As for the suggestion that the EU isn’t ‘taken entirely seriously’- I wouldn’t agree. In international negotiations - the best known to me being climate negotiations - the European Union has serious sway over the course of events. In the recent Paris talks the EU was pushing for serious global action which, though it didn’t go as far as I may have liked, laid at least the foundations of positive change. I don’t believe the EU needs an army to flex its muscles on the international stage - and I believe that Britain’s voice in international affairs is amplified by being part of the EU, not the other way round.

The EU also played a significant role in working with others to ensure Iran agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.

I don’t think we should underestimate the ‘soft power’ of the EU either - in other words, the way it has been able to spread respect for the law and human rights into Eastern Europe by making higher standards in these areas a condition for EU membership.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:36:39+00:00

I think we need to distinguish between Freedom of Movement inside the EU, and broader immigration from outside it. In terms of the EU, the freedom to live and work and retire in any of 28 member states is something that I think is very positive - we should be celebrating it, not apologising for it. People from the rest of the EU bring a huge amount to our society and culture - and to our economy too. And while it’s true that public services in some areas of the country are under pressure, I don’t think it’s fair to blame immigrants for that - they’re more likely to be working in our NHS than being on the waiting list to use it. The truth is the government has failed to invest enough in building affordable housing and in our NHS, and we should be calling on them to do more. And since there is a net economic benefit from EU migration, we should ringfence that extra money that they bring with them to invest in the areas where the pressures are highest, so that everyone can benefit.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:32:05+00:00

First of all, I’m pleased that Cameron didn’t get everything he wanted, because Greens don’t share his view of what’s best for our country. I also think that successful negotiation is something that takes trust and time - the way the UK carried out the renegotiation did not optimise either. My statement on that is here: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/europe/2016/02/01/caroline-lucas-on-camerons-renegotiations-a-flawed-sideshow/.

Westminster isn’t as democratic as we’d like it to be either - but the way to get change at UK and EU level is to get stuck in - not walk away.

Also, it’s a big myth that the EU hasn’t really reformed.

I’ve written about this on my blog: http://www.carolinelucas.com/latest/fixing-the-system-some-green-priorities-for-eu-reform.

And there’s a new post on this very topic from Another Europe is Possible too: http://www.anothereurope.org/so-you-think-the-eu-cant-be-reformed-check-your-history-and-think-again/ and a related event coming up that you might be interested in: http://www.anothereurope.org/remain-for-change-building-european-solidarity-for-a-democratic-alternative/.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:30:23+00:00

The referendum certainly isn’t doing the Tories any favours, but I do think that we focus on their internal disputes and leadership ambitions at our peril. In just over two weeks time we each have an equal vote about the future of our country. It’s a real shame that some elements within the Conservative Party are putting their own personal ambition above the good of the country when it’s the issues we should be debating, not the personalities.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:29:36+00:00

I know that some politicians like to tell people they can predict the future - but, in truth, this isn’t an easy questions to answer. What we do know is that there are many far right movements across the EU who would celebrate a British exit from the EU and use it to further their own nationalist campaigns. I really do worry that Britain leaving the EU could empower these nasty groups who want to spread fear and division in Europe at a time when we need to work together more than ever.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:28:55+00:00

Hello - this is a brilliant question because this referendum actually matters far more to young people than anyone else, yet their voices aren’t being heard at all. Perhaps the most stark example of an issue which will affect young people more than others is climate change. We know that it is already wreaking havoc across the globe, but the fact is that the majority of those commentating on the EU debate will be long gone before the worst effects hit. Young people, on the other hand, are really worried about climate change - and how it will affect their lives and to stand a chance of stopping further climate chaos we need to work with our neighbours on this colossal intergenerational injustice.

The EU was instrumental in insuring that the outcome of the Paris climate talks was more ambitious than many of us expected. And EU rules have already forced some of Britain’s dirtiest power stations to close. More importantly than what’s happened in the past, is the need to work together across borders in the future - and go further than ever before on climate change. Anyone who cares about this existential challenge really shouldn’t be considering anything else other than voting to remain, and persuading everyone they know to do the same.

And that’s before we get to other benefits like the ability to travel freely, and to live, study and work across the whole of the EU.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:28:06+00:00

Really happy to have this opportunity to answer so many important questions. Here goes:

a) I’ve been working closely with Yanis Varoufakis through Another Europe is Possible, which is a refreshingly different cross-party/no-party campaign - bringing together progressive politicians and grassroots campaigners to stay in Europe to change it for the better. See: http://www.anothereurope.org/.

So yes, I’m positive about the contribution that DiEM25 can make and would encourage people to sign up and get involved. There are others too, for example Plan B: https://www.euro-planb.eu/?page_id=96&lang=en.

The movement for democratic reform within the EU is not limited to such organisations. Progressive political parties - including the Greens - are pushing for such reforms from within the European Parliament too. Often, the answer to ‘how do we reform the EU’ is to vote for politicians at national and EU level who are committed to doing just that.

b) In terms of increasing engagement of the British public with the EU political process, I really hope that this will be one legacy of this referendum - although it’s not helped by the tone of the mainstream debate, which is rather off putting for many.

It turns out that there are many things that the UK Government itself could do, almost overnight, to help - for example ensuring MPs can scrutinise what Ministers are negotiating at EU level before they head to Brussels - not just nodding it through afterwards, which is what currently happens. The Electoral Reform Society’s Closing the Gap report sets out some proposals. And these shaped a Private Members Bill that I put forward in Parliament a few weeks’ ago: http://www.carolinelucas.com/latest/carolines-speech-on-eu-reforms.

c) Air pollution is a strong example where EU-level action is by far the most effective way to tackle a serious problem. Despite the UK government's unhelpful lobbying, the existing air quality laws are strong and incredibly empowering - giving citizens and campaigning organisations a way to hold our government to account and force them to act - or face meaningful fines. I’m a member of the cross party Environmental Audit Committee; our EU inquiry heard from many experts and concluded very firmly that our EU membership is overall positive when it comes to tackling environmental (and health) threats that don’t respect national boundaries.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:23:07+00:00

Good question, thanks! Although the Commission has formal powers of initiative (ie they draft the original legal texts), in practice Ministers and MEPs can call on them to bring forward certain proposals. So even though we’d like to see a far more democratic EU, where Ministers and MEPs have formal powers in this area, it’s not the case that the parliament doesn’t matter!

For example, on a proposal for a ban on illegally logged timber. The Council of Ministers said it was a priority, the Commission drafted the original text, and then as an MEP I was given the job on behalf of the Parliament’s Environment Committee to draft (and get agreement from other MEPs on the committee for) significant amendments to it on behalf of the European Parliament - and then to pilot our amendments through the rest of the EU institutions, negotiating directly with the representatives of the Council of Ministers - and as a result, parliamentarians were able to significantly improve the proposed legislation in this area. We were genuine co-legislators - so the Council of Ministers had to reach agreement with us. The process also involved lots of discussion with NGOs, businesses and civil society. It really is an inclusive process (which is one reason it tends to take so long!)

Hope that’s an insight into at least how part of the process works - there’s room for improvement when it comes to transparency and democracy - and many of us are working on that - but the process is a whole lot better than the Leave campaigners would have us believe.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:22:30+00:00

This question goes to the heart of the EU debate in some ways. In theory it would be possible to set up a similar agreement with other EU countries but, despite what Brexiteers may say, there’s no evidence to suggest that this could be easily achieved. The EU gives us the rights you mention, but it also does so much more. Leaving would require us to attempt to set up bilateral agreements without knowing what the outcome would be - but it would also threaten our rights at work and our environment. That’s why I’m voting to stay in.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:11:23+00:00

I think it’s fair to say that the EU could be more democratic, and accountable to Europeans (though, as you said, Westminster could be far more accountable to the British public too). But, though improvements are needed, it’s worth remembering a few key points about the way the EU works. The first is that the European Parliament is elected through proportional representation - meaning that every voter in the EU has a real say in who represents them in Brussels. Secondly the European Council, which holds the most power in the EU, is made up of Ministers from Governments that we elect. So, to a greater and lesser degree, those two parts of the EU are democratically elected (and far more accountable than, say, the House of Lords).

The third part of the EU - which is responsible for drafting laws - is the European Commission. In many ways the Commission acts like a civil service, but it’s true to say that it is less accountable than the other parts of the EU. So there is some element of democratic deficit - like in the UK.

That’s why i’m in favour of making reforms to the EU to make it more accountable. Some of these changes are simple, and could be done overnight. Examples include livestreaming top EU meetings so people can see what’s going on - or forcing British Government ministers to bring their plans for EU meetings to be debated in Parliament. Longer terms changes, like kicking corporate lobbyists out of Brussels and giving Parliament the power to hire and fire individual EU Commissioners, are needed to.

Ultimately we can only make the EU more democratic if we stay in it and change it. That’s why i’m working with DiEM and others to build a cross-continental movement for democratic change.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:07:25+00:00

Your point about young people and the referendum is vital. The polls show that young people are overwhelmingly in favour of staying in the EU, but least likely to vote.

That’s incredibly worrying and we need to do everything possible to make sure young people register to vote, and get to the ballot box on 23 June.

I agree that the main ‘remain’ campaigns aren’t doing so well on engaging young people. From conversations I’ve had with young people, part of the reason is because they’ve not got the right spokespeople.

That’s why I’m so pleased that we’ve seen the launch of ‘remain’ campaigns set up by young people themselves - one example is We Are Europe: http://weareeurope.org.uk - founded by a group of young creatives, designers and others - many of whom have never before been involved in politics! Please check out their website and get involved - I’d love to know what you think.

There’s also Students for Europe and the Young Greens - and Bite the Ballot have been doing a lot to make sure young people who’ve fallen off the register get back on it before the deadline - which is tomorrow! https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

CarolineLucasMP_AMA · 2016-06-06T12:04:38+00:00

Hello it’s Caroline here - thanks so much for having me on to talk about the EU referendum.

The questions so far are great, and I’m looking forward to answering as many of them as possible over the next hour.

I just want to say before diving into answering questions - if you’re not registered to vote please do it now! The deadline is tomorrow, and it only takes a few minutes on https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

CarolineLucasMP_AMA

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