

Identifying some myths: the misleadingly named European Social Model
Left ‘remain’ supporters are fond of citing the EU’s so-called ‘social democratic’ approach to economic policy, sometimes referred to as the European Social Model (ESM), as a key reason why the UK should vote to stay in the EU on the 23rd of June. Unfortunately, the reality of the EU does not support this perception. If the ESM was ever true, it now seems an out of date perception. The truth is, in the EU neo-liberalism is the dominant policy paradigm. The EU has developed wh


There is no strong socialist case for staying in the European Union
Today Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing leader of the Labour party, made a socialist case for remaining in the EU. It has been coloured by a reminder that he has been exceptionally critical of the EU previously, voting against joining the EEC in 1975, against ratifying the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, and concerned by the collapse of national power being subsumed into the Brussels-based bureaucracy. But let’s put all this to one side for now. Whatever he felt before, he is on the ot