{{short description|Left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance in the United Kingdom}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Update|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox political party | name = No2EU | colorcode = darkgrey | logo = Logo of No2EU.png | logo_size = 240px | leader = [[Bob Crow]] | founded = {{Start date|df=yes|2009|3|19}}<ref>{{Cite news |title=A battle for democracy |date=20 March 2009 |newspaper=Morning Star |publisher=People's Press Printing Society |page=2}}</ref> | ideology = {{plainlist| * [[Euroscepticism]] * [[Socialism]] }} | position = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] | colours = {{Color box|{{party color|No to the EU – Yes to Democracy}}|border=darkgray}} Dark grey | slogan = Yes to Workers' Rights | blank1_title = Members | blank1 = {{plainlist| * [[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers]] * Alliance for Green Socialism * [[Communist Party of Britain]] * [[Indian Workers' Association]] * [[Liberal Party (UK, 1989)|Liberal Party]] * [[Socialist Party (England and Wales)|Socialist Party]] * [[Solidarity (Scotland)|Solidarity]] }} | website = {{URL|http://www.tuaeu.co.uk/}} | country = the United Kingdom }} '''No2EU''' is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance{{efn|For legal reasons the No2EU alliance is registered as a political party in its own right.}} in the [[United Kingdom]]. 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]] (RMT), who provided most of its funding, the [[Communist Party of Britain]] and [[Solidarity (Scotland)|Solidarity]] among others. It participated in the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009 European Parliament elections]] and the [[2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|European elections in 2014]] with the party name "No2EU"<ref name="Registered name"/> and the campaign slogan ''No2EU — Yes to Workers' Rights''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/428268/Bob-Crow-launches-workers-against-EU|title=Bob Crow launches 'workers against EU'|date=10 September 2013 |publisher=[[Daily Express]]}}</ref>
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".<ref>{{cite web|title=About No2EU|url=http://www.tuaeuc.org/no2eu-wp/?page_id=77|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017105946/http://www.tuaeuc.org/no2eu-wp/?page_id=77|archive-date=17 October 2013|year=2013}}</ref> This, it contested, is impossible within the current European Union structure and it calls for a withdrawal from the EU.<ref name="exit left">{{cite web|title=No2EU says|url=http://www.tuaeuc.org/no2eu-wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/a5_no2eu.pdf#page=6|work=exit left|publisher=No2EU|page=6|format=PDF|year=2013}}</ref> In keeping with its socialist position it campaigns for public ownership of some national industries<ref>{{cite web|title=No2EU?|url=http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2009/07/02/no2eu|work=Off the Rails|publisher=Alliance for Workers Liberty|date=2 July 2009|quote=The platform calls for nationalisation of a few industries (railways, post office, NHS and energy).}}</ref> and investment in public services.<ref>{{cite AV media |first=Bob |last=Crow |date=27 May 2009 |title=No2EU - Yes to Democracy election broadcast |medium=television broadcast |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfv47sho_U&t=2m33s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/MOfv47sho_U |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|time=2:33 |publisher=BBC One |quote=we call for more investment in public services}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
It is hostile to fascist politics,<ref name="exit left" /><ref>{{cite web|title=RMT members clash with BNP in Carlisle|url=http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=122366|publisher=RMT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113043613/http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=122366|archive-date=13 January 2012|date=11 May 2009}}</ref> acting as an 'internationalist alternative'<ref>{{cite news|last=Griffiths|first=Robert|title=New left openings?|newspaper=Morning Star|publisher=People's Press Printing Society|date=9 April 2009|page=8}}</ref> to the perceived [[xenophobic]] 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".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8059281.stm|date=22 May 2009|work=BBC News|title=Crow launches NO2EU euro campaign|first=Brian|last=Wheeler}}</ref>
==History== '''No2EU – Yes to Democracy''' was initiated by the [[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers|RMT]] to contest the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|June 2009 European Parliament elections]]. In addition to the RMT, the coalition included: * Alliance for Green Socialism * [[Communist Party of Britain]]<ref>{{cite news |date=25 May 2013 |title=Communists plan for EU elections |url-status=dead |url=http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/133301 |newspaper=Morning Star |publisher=People's Press Printing Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625235035/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/133301 |archive-date=25 June 2013 |page=4}}</ref> * [[Indian Workers' Association]] * [[Liberal Party (UK, 1989)|Liberal Party]] * [[Socialist Party (England and Wales)|Socialist Party]] * [[Solidarity (Scotland)|Solidarity]]
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(UK)|Labour Party]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3783|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525054648/http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3783|url-status=usurped|archive-date=25 May 2009|title=Socialist Party on No2EU|work=Socialist Unity website|access-date=5 October 2013}}</ref> though the RMT had set some precedent in Scotland when it backed the [[Scottish Socialist Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3467637.stm|title=Rail union breaks with Labour|date=7 February 2004|access-date=27 May 2014|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>
===2009 European Parliament election=== No2EU received 153,236 votes<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_999999.stm|date=19 April 2009|work=BBC News|title=European Election Results 2009, UK Results}}</ref> or 1% of the national vote, winning no seats and finishing in 11th place behind [[Arthur Scargill]]'s [[Socialist Labour Party (UK)|Socialist Labour Party]]. The alliance only fielded candidates in [[Great Britain]], none in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://no2eu.com/candidates.html|title=candidates|work=No2EU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223224147/http://no2eu.com/candidates.html|archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows:
{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%; height:175px" border="1" |- border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" !Constituency!!Candidates!!Votes!!% |- |[[East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|East Midlands]] |John McEwan, Avtar Sadiq, Jean Thorpe, Shangara Singh Gahonia, Laurence Platt |11,375 |0.9 |- |[[East of England (European Parliament constituency)|East of England]] |Brian Denny, Frank Jepson, Steve Glennon, Phil Katz, Eleanor Donne, Pete Relph, Ron Rodwell |13,939 |0.9 |- |[[London (European Parliament constituency)|London]] |[[Bob Crow]], [[John Hendy (barrister)|John Hendy]], Mary Davis, Kevin Nolan, Syed Islam, Onay Kasab, John Rowe, Nick Wrack |17,758 |1.0 |- |[[North East England (European Parliament constituency)|North East England]] |Martin Levy, Hannah Walter, Peter Pinkney |8,066 |1.4 |- |[[North West England (European Parliament constituency)|North West England]] |Roger Bannister, Les Skarrot, Craig Johnston, Alec McFadden, [[Steve Radford]], Lynn Worthington, John Metcalfe, Harry Smith |23,580 |1.4 |- |[[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]] |[[Dave Hill (professor)|Dave Hill]], Garry Hassell, Kevin Hayes, Owen Morris, Gawain Little, Robert Wilkinson, Jacqui Berry, Nick Wright, Nick Chaffey, Sarah Wrack<ref>{{cite web|title=Workers' Candidates For a Workers' Europe|url=http://www.no2eusoutheast.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/workers-candidates-for-workers-europe.html|work=No2EU - Yes To Democracy, South East Region|date=10 May 2009}}</ref> |21,455 |0.9 |- |[[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]] |[[Alex Gordon (communist)|Alex Gordon]], Roger Davey, Rachel Lynch, Nick Quirk, John Chambers, Paul Dyer |9,741 |0.6 |- |[[West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|West Midlands]] |[[David Nellist]], Dyal Singh Bagri, Malcolm Gribbin, Jo Stevenson, Peter MacLaren, Andy Chaffer<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/euro/4310412.New_EU_election_candidates_named/|date=22 April 2009|newspaper=Dudley News|title=New EU election candidates named|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522024848/http://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/euro/4310412.New_EU_election_candidates_named/|archive-date=22 May 2009}}</ref> |13,415 |1.0 |- |[[Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire and the Humber]] |Keith Gibson, Celia Foote, Jackie Grunsell, Peter March, Mike Davies, Juliet Marie Boddington |15,614 |1.3 |- |[[Scotland (European Parliament constituency)|Scotland]] |John Foster, [[Tommy Sheridan]], Leah Ganley, Stuart Hyslop, Ajit Singh Uppal, Tom Morrison |9,693 |0.9 |- |[[Wales (European Parliament constituency)|Wales]] |[[Robert Griffiths (politician)|Robert Griffiths]], Rob Williams, Laura Picand, Trevor Jones <ref>{{cite web|url=https://socialistresistance.org/489/no2eu-%E2%80%93-yes-to-democracy-declares-slate-of-candidates-for-june-4th-vote|title=No2EU – Yes to Democracy declares slate of candidates for June 4th vote|work=Socialist Resistance}}</ref> |8,600 |1.3 |- !colspan="2"|'''Total''' |153,236 |1.0 |} 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 [[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers|RMT]], the [[Socialist Party (England and Wales)|Socialist Party]] and the [[Communist Party of Britain]], ready to contest the 2014 European Parliament election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rmt.org.uk/campaigns/political/no2eu/|title=No2EU, yes to workers' rights|publisher=[[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers|RMT]]|access-date=31 December 2013|archive-date=2 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102161727/http://www.rmt.org.uk/campaigns/political/no2eu/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/bob-crow-explains-why-no2eu-is-standing-in-2014-elections/|title=Bob Crow explains why No2EU is standing in 2014 elections|date=6 September 2013|first=Brian|last=Denny|publisher=[[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers|RMT]]|access-date=31 December 2013|archive-date=2 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102161835/https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/bob-crow-explains-why-no2eu-is-standing-in-2014-elections/|url-status=dead}}</ref> For 2014, the slate used the party name of "No2EU"<ref name="Registered name">{{Cite web |url= https://pefonline.electoralcommission.org.uk/search/searchintro.aspx |title=Regulated entity profile: No2EU|access-date=4 February 2014}} Use the Registration Search function to search for 'No2EU' and click on the EC Reference Number (PP 2164) to display registration details.</ref> and the campaign slogan ''No2EU – Yes to workers' rights''.<ref>{{Cite web|quote=That we note the Political Sub Committee have met to discuss this campaign on three occasions and we note the campaign name has now changed to ‘NO2EU – YES TO WORKERS RIGHTS.'|access-date=4 February 2014|date = 10 September 2013|author=Bob Crow|author-link=Bob Crow|publisher=RMT|title=2014 European Parliament Elections Support "NO2EU – Yes to Workers' Rights|url=https://www.rmt.org.uk/about/policies/political-circulars-and-submissions/2014-european-parliament-elections-no2eu-yes-to-workers-rights/?preview=true}}</ref>
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:
{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%; height:175px" border="1" |- border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" !Constituency!!Candidates!!Votes!!% |- |[[East of England (European Parliament constituency)|East of England]] |Brian Denny, Eleanor Donne, Steve Glennon, David Goode, Leonardo Impett, Teresa MacKay, Emily Thompson-Golding |4,870 |0.3 |- |[[London (European Parliament constituency)|London]] |Edward Dempsey, Alex Gordon, April Ashley, Annie Ngemi, Mary Davis, Paula Mitchell, Natasha Hoarau,<ref>Replacing her late father [[Bob Crow]]</ref> Michael Carty |3,804 |0.2 |- |[[North West England (European Parliament constituency)|North West England]] |Roger Bannister, George Waterhouse, Jacqueline Grunsell, John Metcalfe, George Tapp, Mark Rowe, James Healy, Kevin Morrison |5,402 |0.3 |- |[[West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|West Midlands]] |[[Dave Nellist]], Pat Collins, Joanne Stevenson, Sophia Hussain, Paul Reilly, Andy Chaffer, Amanda Marfleet |4,653 |0.3 |- |[[Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire and the Humber]] |Trevor Howard, Mary Jackson, Carrie Hedderwick, Adrian O'Malley, Steven Andrew, Iain Dalton |3,807 |0.3 |- |[[Scotland (European Parliament constituency)|Scotland]] |John Foster, Andrew Elliot, Murdo Maclean, Gail Morrow, Brian Smith, Ritchie Veitch |6,418 |0.5 |- |[[Wales (European Parliament constituency)|Wales]] |[[Robert Griffiths (politician)|Robert Griffiths]], Claire Job, Steve Skelly, Laura Picand |2,803 |0.4 |- !colspan="2"|'''Total''' |31,757 |0.2 |}
No2EU deregistered as a political party on 1 November 2014. It did not contest the [[European Parliament election, 2019 (United Kingdom)|2019 European Parliament elections]].
===European Parliament=== {| class="wikitable" |+ [[European Parliament]] ! Election year ! # of total votes ! % of overall vote ! # of seats won ! Rank |- ! [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009]]<ref>{{cite news|title=European Election 2009: UK Results|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_999999.stm|access-date=22 January 2014|date=8 June 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"| 153,236 {{increase}} | style="text-align:center;"| 1.0% {{increase}} | style="text-align:center;"|{{Composition bar|0|72|hex={{party color|No2EU}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| 13 {{increase}} |- ! [[2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2014]] | style="text-align:center;"| 31,757 {{decrease}} | style="text-align:center;"| 0.19% {{decrease}} | style="text-align:center;"|{{Composition bar|0|73|hex={{party color|No2EU}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| 18 {{decrease}} |}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{British political parties}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:No to EU - Yes to Democracy}} [[Category:Communist Party of Britain]] [[Category:Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Socialist parties in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Socialist Party (England and Wales)]] [[Category:Political party alliances in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:2009 in British politics]] [[Category:2009 establishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom]] {{Communist Party of Britain}}