Our Regions will suffer most from Brexit
Our poorest regions receive millions in EU structural funds, and hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on trade with Europe. At a time when local government budgets are being slashed, Brexit could be yet another blow to our regions.
To find out how much Britain has really benefitted from the EU, we have to cast our minds back to the early 1970s. When Edward Heath was finally negotiating Britain’s entry to the EU, one of the sticking points was the colossal agriculture budget, which was of limited benefit to Britain both then and now (unless of course you are the Queen, landed gentry etc.). Heath’s way of making sure that Britain got back what it put in was a little known policy called the European Regional Development Fund, which today represents around a third of the EU budget.
You might never have heard of it, but you will have benefitted from it if you live in one of the 10 ‘transition regions’ dotted around the country, and especially is you live in one of 2 ‘less developed regions’ (South Wales and Cornwall). Between 2014 and 2020 (assuming we swerve the Brexit), the UK will receive structural funds to the tune of €31.8 billion to invest in projects linked with reducing unemployment, research and development, green energy and improving education provisions.
It’s at this point that I should raise a disclaimer. My home region is the North East, where unemployment is the highest in the country and many still live below the poverty-belt. EU funds have helped transform the post-industrial landscape, and what is more, the single market has brought much-needed investment. Thanks to the EU, we attracted Nissan to Sunderland 1984, to build what is now the most productive car factory in Europe, and Hitachi has followed in creating 730 jobs at a new facility in Co. Durham. This investment has gone some way to fill the void left by the mines and shipyards, but it’s nowhere near enough – we need EU membership to create more jobs.
The same goes for key regions around the country. From the EU Regional Development Fund, Mancunians have received a much-needed upgrade to Metrolink trams, regeneration projects in the inner city, a National Cycling Centre, and a renovation of Jodrell Bank Observatory. North of the border, the Scottish Government estimates that 336,000 jobs are directly dependent on EU trade and that Scottish universities received €572 million between 2007 and 2014. In the West Country, projects have included funding for top universities in Bath, Exeter and Bristol, social housing projects and investment in the manufacturing sector.
These funds must be a strong incentive to stay in the EU, at a time when there is a chronic lack of investment in Britain’s creaking infrastructure. A recent article in The Economist highlighted that our country had slipped to 24th in the World Economic Forum infrastructure rankings, and government investment has been slashed from 3.2% of GDP in 2010 to 1.4% in 2020. At the same time, the EU is investing €39 million in HS2 and €4 million in the South Wales electrification project. The message is pretty clear: whilst our government is failing to provide investment and is curtailing local government budgets across the board, the EU is a crucial source of funds for many of our regions.
Equally indispensible are the jobs which the EU brings to regions of high unemployment, such as the North East and Scotland. It’s here that I believe Farage shows himself to be out of touch. He has said time and again that we don’t need to worry about possible negative effects of Brexit on trade, because the likes of Volkswagen and BMW will continue to export to our shores. This is, of course, entirely plausible, but the concern of most people is not that they won’t be able to buy a luxury car, but that these companies will not choose to manufacture their products in Britain in the future (let’s not forget that BMW employs around 4000 people at the Mini factory in Oxfordshire). The truth that Farage refuses to reveal is that Brexit could be the final nail in the coffin for British manufacturing. If you don’t believe this, remember that most British car companies went under partly as a result of feeble exports to the continent.
Taking all this into account, it’s hardly surprising that a recent YouGov “Eurosceptic Map of Britain” revealed that support for the In Campaign was highest in regions such as Scotland, the North West and inner-City London – all regions which benefit from EU investment. This division is dangerous, with voices such as William Hague claiming that the SNP would call for a second independence referendum if Brexit transpires. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness has called for a vote on Irish reunification following Brexit, just weeks after the Republic of Ireland’s Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned of the negative impact on the peace process. Both cases employ the same arguments; that support for the EU is so high in both countries, that the gap with England may be difficult to bridge. In light of this, perhaps talk of the break up of the UK is not so exaggerated.
Hopefully the issues highlighted in this article have debunked the myth of the EU as a cold, remote organisation. Instead, the EU can and does make a tangible difference at a local level – sometimes even more so than Westminster! 41 years after the launch of Ted Heath’s European Regional Development Fund, the UK remains a major beneficiary. If the plug was pulled on this cash overnight, it would be sorely missed as transport projects are left incomplete and unemployment soars. So next time you hear UKIP saying we get nothing out of the EU, take a look at the projects it’s backing near you.
