Today’s informal European summit is a chance for David Cameron to acknowledge Europe’s ‘wind of change.’ It is not simply voters in the UK who have voted in favour of growth-led strategies in the recent elections, so too have voters in the national election in Greece, the local elections in Germany and the presidential election in France. People are suffering. More than half of young Spaniards are now out of work. The Greek people are turning away from the political mainstream. People are taking to the streets.
Centre-left parties are not calling for large deficits to be ignored. We are simply calling for an end to the ideologically driven austerity approach in favour of a more balanced plan. As Ed Balls has repeatedly said since the UK coalition first announced its draconian cuts, excessive austerity means a country does not have the growth it needs to raise funds in order to pay off debt. They are in a downward spiral.
David Cameron is not hearing the mood music in the EU. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, recently said to MEPs ‘we have had a fiscal compact. Right now what is in my mind is a growth compact.’ Earlier this month the Economist wrote, ‘Germany has pushed austerity too far and too fast.’ Angela Merkel herself seemed to soften her rhetoric when she said that EU leaders need to pursue measures that require political courage and creativity to nurture growth. Now he is back from Camp David, Cameron should encourage European leaders to look across the Atlantic, where Obama has balanced deficit reduction whilst still creating jobs and generating growth.
Instead Cameron and Osborne just look for someone to blame. First it was the last Labour government, and now it is the eurozone. When in fact they need to look closer to home at the policies of their Tory-led coalition. Today’s informal summit is a chance to take Hollande’s lead and change direction before it’s too late. As Ed Miliband said in the Financial Times last week, instead of ever more unrealistic demands being made of countries already struggling to cope, we need shared solutions for a shared problem threatening to engulf us all. It is time for the European Central Bank to step up and become the lender of last resort, and serious consideration should be given to the issuing of eurobonds. We need a programme of collective action, and we need it now.
Europe is hurtling back into recession and worse. And what do right wing leaders across Europe prescribe? More of the same medicine. Surely we don’t want to condemn the poor of Greece, Portugal and Ireland to decades of punishment. Even if it’s just for selfish reasons; Britain needs a healthy Eurozone as our economies are inextricably linked. Today’s summit must mark a change in direction. Let’s hope that Cameron finally abandons his Camerkozy mission, before time runs out.
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Glenis Willmott is leader of the European parliamentary Labour party
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