Policy Provocations: Wish EU weren't here?

Policy Provocations returns for 2014 with a varied programme

The EU has “brought peace and prosperity to one of the world’s most violent regions”, says Banking Standards Chair, Sir Richard Lambert ahead of opening the University of Liverpool’s 2014 Policy Provocation series.

Sir Richard contends that the “peace and prosperity” delivered over the last 60 years by closer European integration has been “taken for granted”, as the continent recovers from a set of elections that saw anti EU parties collect a significant share of the vote.

Taken for granted

Sir Richard said: “We’ve taken it for granted in the last few years because we thought the world had changed and there would be peace and prosperity forever, but we now see things happening on our eastern border which are distinctly alarming.

“I’d rather be a member of a large, rich quad than a lonely, little island with what we are now seeing happening in Crimea and Ukraine.”

Sir Richard will make the case for Britain’s role in a strong European Union this evening, at The University’s Victoria and Gallery Museum. The debate, entitled Wish EU weren’t here? sees the return of the Policy Provocations series, organised by the University’s Heseltine Institute for Public Policy and Practice.

His intervention is timely, as Prime Minister David Cameron promises an in/out referendum in 2017, and anti EU party, UKIP collect almost a quarter of the UK vote in European and local elections.

Sir Richard believes those results are part of a broader, cyclical trend but concedes that “we haven’t seen a grass roots political movement like UKIP in the UK for a hundred years”.

Enormous benefits

A former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, Sir Richard will argue that the EU provides enormous benefits to the UK; whether delivering opportunities to students who wish to study abroad or substantial funding for British science, among many other advantages.

The debate will be opened to the floor following Sir Richard’s presentation. He added: “That’s why I like coming to Liverpool – you always get a good argument.”

Wish EU weren’t here? The first in The Heseltine Institute’s 2014 Policy Provocations series, take place on Wednesday June 17, from 6pm at the Victoria Gallery and Museum on Brownlow Hill. Tickets are free but must be booked. To reserve your place, visit http://www.liv.ac.uk/heseltine-institute/policy-provocations/eu/   

We’ll be live-tweeting throughout, follow @livuniheseltine and join the conversation by using #PolicyProv

Watch the webcast: https://stream.liv.ac.uk/ffkvjka3

Check out the storify: https://storify.com/livuniheseltine/policy-provocations-18-6-14-wish-eu-weren-t-here-1