COMMUNISTS called on Labour yesterday to give Britons a choice over EU membership, to stop Ukip from capitalising on the anti-democratic union’s unpopularity.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage told listeners on LBC radio that his “red line” for forming a coalition government with the Tories was a referendum on the EU.

But Communist Party general secretary Rob Griffiths said Mr Farage’s Thatcherite party, which supports NHS privatisation and lower taxes for the richest, would not be posing a threat to Labour seats if Ed Miliband did the right thing on Europe.

“The EU’s commitment to austerity could not be clearer given the ongoing farce of its ‘negotiations’ with Greece,” Mr Griffiths said.

“Labour needs to make the anti-austerity, anti-big business case for leaving the EU and not allow the Tory right and Ukip to hijack widespread anti-EU sentiment for their xenophobic, City slicker agenda.”