No2EU is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was founded in 2009 when it campaigned under the campaign slogan ''No2EU — Yes to Democracy''; it was led by Bob Crow and backed by the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...

(RMT), who provided most of its funding, the Communist Party of Britain and

Solidarity (Scotland) Solidarity – Scotland's Socialist Movement was a List of political parties in Scotland, political party in Scotland. The party launched on 3 September 2006, founded by two former Scottish Socialist Party MSPs, Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne ...

among others. It participated in the 2009 European Parliament elections and the European elections in 2014 with the party name "No2EU" and the campaign slogan ''No2EU — Yes to Workers' Rights''. The organisation is now known as Trade Unionists Against the EU.

Summary of main policies

No2EU's declared position is for a Europe of "democratic states that value public services and does not offer them to profiteers; a Europe that guarantees the rights of workers and does not put the interests of big business above that of ordinary people". This, it contested, is impossible within the current European Union structure and it calls for a withdrawal from the EU. In keeping with its socialist position it campaigns for public ownership of some national industries and investment in public services. It is hostile to fascist politics, acting as an 'internationalist alternative' to the perceived

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

positions of existing far-right eurosceptic parties. Tensions arising from the free movement of labour are explained as an economic issue, for example Bob Crow stated that he was against "two workers from different countries competing against each other on different rates of pay".

History

No2EU – Yes to Democracy was initiated by the RMT to contest the June 2009 European Parliament elections. In addition to the RMT, the coalition included: * Alliance for Green Socialism * Communist Party of Britain * Indian Workers' Association *

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

* Socialist Party *

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

This was notable as the first instance in recent history of a British trade union officially putting its support behind a national electoral presence other than the Labour Party, though the RMT had set some precedent in Scotland when it backed the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic. The party was fou ...

2009 European Parliament election

No2EU received 153,236 votes or 1% of the national vote, winning no seats and finishing in 11th place behind

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, a major event in the history o ...

's Socialist Labour Party. The alliance only fielded candidates in

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, none in Northern Ireland. The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows: After the election, activity dwindled and the campaign was statutorily de-registered by the Electoral Commission on 2 November 2010.

2014 European Parliament election

On 16 October 2013, the campaign re-registered with the Electoral Commission, consisting of an alliance of the RMT, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Britain, ready to contest the 2014 European Parliament election. For 2014, the slate used the party name of "No2EU" Use the Registration Search function to search for 'No2EU' and click on the EC Reference Number (PP 2164) to display registration details. and the campaign slogan ''No2EU – Yes to workers' rights''. No2EU – Yes to Workers' Rights stood 46 candidates in seven regions in the 22 May euro election including London, North West, Eastern, Wales, Scotland, Yorks and Humber and West Midlands. The candidates were as follows: No2EU deregistered as a political party on 1 November 2014. It did not contest the 2019 European Parliament elections.

European Parliament

Notes

References

Communist Party of Britain Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom Socialist parties in the United Kingdom Socialist Party (England and Wales) Political party alliances in the United Kingdom 2009 in British politics 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom {{Communist Party of Britain