Benefits of the EU are felt here in the UK

The EU decision-making process in Brussels can, at times, feel remote, but the benefits of those decisions are seen and felt in the UK.

80 per cent of our environmental legislation comes from the EU.

This means that we have cleaner beaches, healthier air and better protection for rare species.

The same goes for the many social and workplace laws we can take for granted.

Things like health and safety protection at work, entitlement to paid holidays and equal treatment for part-time workers.

The EU guarantees those rights to everyone.

The EU also gives Britons and our fellow Europeans, the ability to live and work in other countries.

As Greens, we celebrate freedom of movement for all the benefits it brings to the UK but also for the opportunity it gives future generations to benefit from working and living in other EU countries.

I’m glad we have an institution like the EU that safeguards our human and environmental rights; no matter how much the current or a future Tory government protests. However, if we vote to leave, these rights that we often take for granted could be demolished.

With a vote to remain in, we can put the European question to bed and start working on delivering reforms from within to make Europe more democratic in the interests of all people and communities.

The Green Party has launched its campaign to stay in the EU.

We must reject isolation and work within for a better EU.

Stewart Kemp

Sheffield Green Party