In Solidarity 28 John Palmer argued that socialists should take a more positive attitude to the prospect of European federalism. In Solidarity 29 and 30 we continued the debate. The formation of a European Republic is not a matter on which we should abstain, we should be actively campaigning for it. We should not be advocating a weak federation but a democratic, and centralised, republic.
Socialists favour big units over small.
We oppose particularism, parochialism, cultural nationalism and all other irrational or obsolete loyalties. And it should be self evident that if we support the European Republic, we think it should have a single currency, and that monetary policy should be under democratic political control. While socialists have no interest in advising the capitalists as to the most appropriate means of currency stabilisation we do have a duty to defend and advance the interests of our class. We should demand that these people can earn and spend their wages without paying a levy to millionaire bankers, and that they should have a reasonable idea as to what it will buy. Having the UK isolated from the single currency also isolates the British working class from the mainstream of the European labour market and hence labour movement.