Selby's MP comes out in favour of Brexit
MP claims EU hastened the demise of Kellingley Colliery and makes challenges for our district's energy industry.
Politics & local government
Selby's Conservative MP will not be supporting his own Prime Minister as the country moves towards a referendum on Britain's continued membership of the European Union.
Nigel Adams (Con, Selby & Ainsty) announced his intention to campaign for Britain to retreat from the 28-nation bloc in a lengthy blog post on Sunday.
Laying down his position that the UK would be better off after Brexit, the Tory claimed his Prime Minister's attempts to renegotiate membership had failed to deliver on promised fundamental changes.
The in/out referendum is set to take place on June 23rd and will offer UK voters their first opportunity to have their say on Britain's place in Europe in more than four decades.
Much of Mr. Adams' arguments for Brexit revolve around his concerns over the deemed supremacy of EU legislation over laws passed in Westminster.
He said, "Over the last six years as an MP, I have on many occasions had meetings with ministers and civil servants to discuss a problem a local employer is having with policy that is threatening jobs and I too often hear the phrase ‘well, it’s EU law Mr Adams and there is nothing we can do about it’.
"EU rules have sped up the closure of Kellingley Colliery and several power stations across the country and EU directives continue to threaten jobs right here in the Selby and Ainsty constituency.
"Even when our government decides to support businesses like Drax Power Station by helping it convert to biomass, the EU can and does challenge the decision."
Other issues cited by Mr. Adams as reasons to leave the EU include the right to forge independent international trade deals, national security interests and the £18 billion annual cost of continued membership.
Those who argue that Britain should remain united with its European neighbours point to CBI claims that every household in the country benefits from Britain's continued EU membership to the tune of £3,000 per year. This, they say, comes as a result of lower prices within the European free market, and increased jobs, as well as EU trade and investment.
Yvette Cooper, MP for the neighbouring constituency of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford – where many of those affected by the closure of Kellingley are resident – tweeted her support for the 'In' campaign. She said, "360,000 jobs in Yorkshire depend on trade [with] Europe. Employers & Trade Unions across [the] region have said jobs investment and workers rights rely on staying IN".
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