THE war of words on Britain’s EU membership “renegotiation” stepped up a gear at the CBI with protests both inside and outside the lavish annual conference.

The CBI’s role as a big business bastion of Brussels is not in doubt. Over the last eight years this “independent” body has received more than €1 million cash from the European Commission.

It continues to represent the interests of British and US financial capital who benefit immensely from membership of the EU.

Cameron’s speech wasn’t just a case of preaching to the converted but of reassuring British monopoly capital that their interests are being well taken care of throughout the negotiations.

Even so, his lack of detail is remarkable.

The fact that the people of Britain are unable to even hear what issues its representatives are negotiating in case European leaders catch wind of our plans is ominously reminiscent of that other looming EU issue, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

While a further undermining of employment legislation — probably through opting out of the charter of fundamental rights or selected directives on working times and agency work — is likely, in fact the Tories have demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of pursuing this without EU input.

EU leaders and institutions have done nothing to prevent, modify or curb the fresh attack on democratic and workers’ rights in the Trade Union Bill and, as decisions like the Viking and Laval judgements demonstrate, labour law protections exist only so long as they don’t come into conflict with corporate profit.

The extension of workers’ rights across the EU is far from uniform despite the supposed sweeping nature of legislation. The percentage of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements vary from 98 per cent in France to just 23 per cent in Britain.

While this spread reflects the relative strength of existing national legislation, enforced austerity measures have gone hand in hand with fresh attacks on workers’ rights. Romania is the most stark example where the drop from 98 per cent to just 36 per cent in 18 months was as a direct result of austerity measures.

The argument put by the CBI that 3.5 million jobs in this country are dependent on EU membership, in particular in manufacturing, just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

In fact the reverse is true. When Britain joined the then European Economic Community it had a surplus of trade in goods to member states. Now we import over a third more than we export.

In fact, a study by Civitas which looked at British exports over the last 20 years demonstrated that British exports do better in virtually every field outside EU member states.

Providing state aid or even the complete nationalisation of failing industry is strictly prohibited by the EU. Yet the stark contrast between China’s ability to protect its steel industry and the total shambles of the British government’s response to ours collapsing demonstrates how essential public ownership of strategic resources is.

Even before TTIP makes an appearance, the commitment to “flexicurity” and maintaining high levels of unemployment as a means to suppress wages run through the very lifeblood of the EU.

Given the corporate-dominated nature of the campaigns both to stay in and to leave the EU and the challenge presented by unpicking the Parliamentary Labour Party’s deeply embedded commitment to maintain membership at all costs, the left needs to ensure that the referendum debate isn’t limited to two equally unpalatable sides of the same coin.

The prospect of ending permanent austerity, whether implemented in Brussels or Westminster, is one around which we can build popular support and unity.