EU referendum: Coalition of left-wing politicians including Yanis Varoufakis and John McDonnell make the case against Brexit
A coalition of left-leaning politicians and commentators will unveil a new plan to stay in the European Union today in London with a day of "workshops and interactive sessions" they hope will inspire young people to vote.
The group, organised under the banner, "Another Europe is Possible", includes Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, the Green Party's sole MP Caroline Lucas, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and commentator Owen Jones. They are calling to strengthen democracy and want to work with groups across the EU to reform the Brussels institutions.
The rally taking place in London today hopes to put forward a different argument from the predominant Remain narrative advocated by the prime minister and the official Britain Stronger in Europe group which focuses on economic and national security.
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Varoufakis, who shot to prominence as the professor-turned-finance minister last summer during the Greek debt saga, has campaigned to eradicate the so-called democratic deficit in the European Union. Although no fan of the EU, he said "Brexit trades on false hope."
"It will not return sovereignty to Westminster. Instead, it will only benefit a segment of financial elites, strengthen xenophobia and deepen the economic malaise," he added.
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Lucas, who is in the running to return to the leadership of the Green Party following Natalie Bennett's announcement to stand down, highlighted the social benefits of staying in the EU, pointing to protections for workers, equal pay rights and environment laws.
"People are bored of hearing the same old voices in the referendum debate. The EU guarantees workers’ rights, protects our environment and allows us to live, work, study and retire across 28 countries. Of course the EU is not perfect but we’re coming together to say that we must stay in Europe to make it more democratic and accountable. By walking away we’d only put our rights at work and our environment at risk"