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[...]This goes to the heart of the negotiations the prime minister is leading in Europe, negotiations that won’t just define our future role in Europe, but the kind of Britain our children will grow up in. I think all of us agree what we don’t want that Britain to be: anti-competitive with more laws made overseas and with people travelling here for the benefits on offer rather than to pay their way. But we also don’t want our children to inherit a Britain cut off from the world, where their prospects are limited and their opportunities end. That’s why this renegotiation matters, something it’s easy to forget in the humdrum of offers and counter proposals. It matters because we’ll be deciding how and where our country stands in the world. [...]
The prime minister’s renegotiation goes to the heart of these concerns. Ensuring that Britain gets the benefits of the increased security, clout and prosperity that EU membership can bring, but recasting our relationship so that we no longer face the regulations that make us less competitive, the laws that creep and the policies that encourage people to travel to Britain for the wrong reasons. If he’s successful, as I am confident that he will be, then the answer to those questions will be yes.
That’s why we’re fighting to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Throughout, we are driven by one consideration – what is best for Britain’s economic and our national security. Having been Britain’s EU budget minister, I’ve experienced that frustration at Europe’s workings first hand, but it’s worth remembering that thanks to the prime minister’s negotiations in the last parliament, we saw the first-ever cut in that budget, showing that reform is possible.
In the end, the British people will decide whether we are stronger and better off as part of the EU or on our own.That’s because we made a promise and kept it – to deliver an in-out referendum. I don’t for a minute believe that we couldn’t succeed outside the EU. But when I think about the type of country that I want our children and grandchildren to inherit, I’m convinced that our country is one that stands tall within a reformed Europe. That’s why securing a successful renegotiation matters so much to British women, men and their families.