To leave or
not to leave, that is the question. That is the question I was asked to address
on Shabbat before the Referendum. I am in favour of remaining in the European Union
partly on Jewish principles which I would like to highlight.
The economic
pros and cons are hardest to weigh up. Whilst we all know what it is like to be
part of the EU, the effects of leaving are in the realm of speculation.
The economic
debate is over whether it is to be free trade deals with Europe, the largest
market in the world , or with the rest of the world. True, the UK can still trade with Europe if we
leave, but we would still have to accept European regulations: the
free movement of goods, services, people and capital. On issues
of economic growth and other prospects it would seem to be all guess-work on
both sides.
I advocate
Fair Trade as a more important ethical value than Free Trade. The EU gives
companies incentives to ensure fair pay for workers in, for example, coffee
production amongst other things world wide . It has also penalised companies
which default on taxes, something British governments could do but have not
done enough to counteract. Jewish
teaching is very strong on business and employment ethics.
In the House
of Lords now the Jewish voice has never been stronger. I visited there some while ago with the
European Masorti Rabbis Association. We had an inspiring session with Lord Maurice Glasman. He is working hard to
get Jewish peers to speak from a Jewish point of view on all key issues. He is
on the side of remaining. He vociferously believes in reforming the EU,
which can only be done from within of course. So did our own passionately
European Lord Joel Barnett, z”l although he was sceptical as to whether the Prime
Minister’s reforming demands would work.
Lord Glasman advocates workers’ representation on company boards: the
German model. If Poland and other countries were to introduce that system it
would obviate economic emigration and breakup of family life. He also advocates
caps on usuriously high interest loans,
from principles based on the Torah. He introduced a successful finance bill to
that end in our Parliament, and believes it should be applied to Europe. This
is a Jewish -British ethical programme.
When I visited the European
Parliament some months ago with an
interfaith group, I learned that we do have a united democratic voice in Europe
on some important issues. In spite of political divisions between our MEP’s,
they are united on certain matters, especially on wanting to see a smaller EU
Budget and to change how it is spent away from agriculture where the largest
chunk of money goes, and more towards science, technology and job creation in
those fields.
The case for
Quitting rests on 3 issues: Sovereignty, Regulation and Migration.
There are
Jewish values which override Sovereignty. After all, we serve the Melech
haOlam, the Sovereign of the Universe, which entails duties, mitzvot. The Brexit slogan is ‘Getting back our
democracy’. At what price? - Freedom from European regulation. Last week I
contrasted freedom from, which is protectively inward-looking, with freedom
to – which is outwardly social justice seeking. The EU’s ‘Social Chapter’, agreed upon by all the member countries,
includes rules about working hours and conditions, wages, health and safety,
the protection of children, religious, ethnic and gender equality.
Racism is on the rise in
Europe: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and in the UK, violent nationalism which we
have seen the effects of this week in Lille with clashes between English
and Russian football fans , and the
murder of Jo Cox MP by a man shouting ‘Britain First’. As with the American-born
Orlando killer, jumping to conclusion before knowing motivations, especially ‘Trumped-
up’ charges, is foolhardy. But there’s a hotbed of hate on which psychopaths
and hooligans thrive. We need to help guarantee human rights in Europe and we
need Europe to guarantee human rights here.
On my recent
visit to Bosnia, I heard relatives of victims yearning for Serbia’s application
to join the EU to be successful, saying that if they had been part of the EU after the
break-up of Yugoslavia, the devastating Bosnian war could have been averted.
Shoah
survivors, their children and grandchildren have told me that there is only one
way they can vote: to remain in the European Union.
And with the
control of terrorism we are also better together, especially
with the access it gives up to the European Arrest Warrant which has brought
terrorist to justice quicker that would be possible otherwise.
On the question
of EU policies critical of the Israeli government, for example over the West
Bank: Israel seems to
want Britain to stay in because she believes that Britain can influence
the EU favourably. Britain and Germany oppose boycotting divestment and
sanctions (BDS) If we leave the EU the balance in Europe will go against Israel
. You may agree or disagree with whatever EU does or says over Israel - ditto any subsequent British government. What is for sure – outside the EU we are powerless
to bring pressure to bear, only inside can we have a chance.
Nation states serve national
interests. International bodies: the UN, the Commonwealth and the EU, bridge
gaps between nation states and the world community. There is the control of other threats: the
environment; climate change. In all this we are better together.
Positively, there is EU
funding for scientific, cultural, educational and social projects. My wife will tell you about
Manchester University Medical School’s pursuit of financial support from Europe
and the invaluable international
co-operation it entails. The Brexit argument is that we pay in more than
we get out. The answer there might be that we don’t ask enough in return! We
should be working harder to get our entitlement. I offer you one
example close to home. A project working for people with Dementia called the European Reminiscence Network run by Pam Schweitzer, daughter of our member
Barbara Aubrey. They received 2.5 million
Euros support from the EU. I am currently seeking ways to plug into the Network’s
training for us in Manchester .
Migration is
the most exploited issue. The refugee explosion is a global humanitarian
problem only solvable by nations working together. The Brexit ‘pull up the drawbridge
viewpoint’ runs diametrically against the
Jewish experience. Tens of thousands of French Jews in London are now dreading having to leave if the
vote goes for Brexit. Some will say ‘let
them go to Israel’. Thousands have done. But why should we British Jews deny
the right to live here which was granted to our parents and grandparents and
which is guaranteed by the cornerstone of the EU: Freedom of Movement, as a fundamental
human right? Here it is
true, the EU is far from perfect, the rapprochement with Turkey, supporting
their barriers against Syrian refugees has now alienated Medicins sans
Frontiers, who are refusing to accept EU funding, but again change can only be
brought to bear by those who are part of the union, not outside.
Most
concerning is the way that the Immigration issue is used here. I want to
paraphrase my colleague, Rabbi Howard Cooper who put it excellently well in his
blog. He wrote about the UK ‘simmering
with anger and frustration, over
grievances that successive governments have failed to address: lack of
affordable housing, decline in secure jobs, underfunded NHS, mental health
services, schools’. These are real problems but it conveniently lets everyone
of the hook to blame any or all of these issues on immigrants. It is ‘morally suspect to do so and deluded if you
think that isolation from Europe is the solution’. We know
what it is to be a scapegoat, by which failures, faults of governments, can be obscured
by blaming minorities - and blaming the EU.
We have been
proud and loyal citizens of the countries to which we belong – (when they allow
us a sense of belonging). Simultaneously we have a consciousness that
transcends boundaries. We are Ivri’im – Hebrews. Ivri means one who crosses
boundaries, a migrant.
Let me remind
you of the Jewish journey through time I’ve been exploring for you over recent
months.
We are the
people of Menasseh ben Israel whose
influence brought our people back to these shores after 350 years of exile after being expelled when we
outlived our economic usefulness here.
We were readmitted in large part out of recognition of our international trade network.
We were part of an informal world union, let alone a European one.
We are the
people of Glueckl of Hameln who exemplified freedom of movement, crossing several European
national borders through business success, breaking new ground for alienated
Jews, but also showing the tragic consequences of business failure, and through
good times and bad, passing on a legacy of Jewish loyalty and faith to her
family and to us through her diaries.
We are the
people of Mayer Amschel Rothschild who,
from the mid-18th century emerged from the ghetto in Frankfurt to
build up a European banking system
earning him the title, the founding father of international finance. His
five sons became the government bankers in five European countries giving them backing in their united struggle
against Napoleon’s Imperialistic aims
and actions.
And we are the
people who fell victim to the genocide, when the Nazis overran Europe, accused
of conspiracy to control the world, by those who fought and failed to conquer
the world, the prime victims of
ultra-nationalism. In 1950 Churchill had a vision of a United Europe co-operating
to prevent it recurring.
On Thursday we
have a duty to perform, the outcome of which will determine our future and that
of generations that come after us. Let us use it wisely, informed by our Jewish
values and experience.
