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THREE Labour MPs and their party’s biggest private donor have a campaign to reform the European Union or consider getting out.
Labour for Britain was born yesterday as the government’s EU referendum Bill cleared another hurdle in the House of Commons.
As the Star revealed on Saturday, veteran left MPs Kate Hoey and Kelvin Hopkins, along with former Cabinet secretary Graham Stringer, will lead the campaign in Parliament.
Eurosceptic entrepreneur John Mills, who was national agent for the No campaign in the 1975 referendum on the European Economic Community, has been appointed secretary.
Mr Mills said the new group would give a voice to Labour voters who felt that too much power lay with Brussels.
“Labour supporters and voters need to have their voice heard in the renegotiation process and the party shouldn’t be scared to contemplate leaving the EU if it ends up being a sham,” he said.
Labour’s front bench MPs support remaining in the European Union (EU) irrespective of the outcome of Tory renegotiation of Britain’s membership terms.
But Labour for Britain argued that this strategy “weakens” Britain’s hand in negotiations and said that the party should be prepared to back withdrawal if substantial powers were not returned.
In a joint statement, the MPs supporting the group called for a “full dialogue” over its position within the party and with “natural supporters” who voted for Ukip at the election.
“We believe that the debate about our country’s future in the EU has been dormant within the Labour Party for too long,” they said.
The referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU is due to be held before the end of 2017.