“We must heed message of CBI” says politician.

We must heed the message of the CBI report which finds that EU membership benefits the British economy by up to £78 billion a year, says a top Lib Dem politician.

The report, published ahead of the CBI’s annual conference this week, estimates that being in the EU is worth between 4 and 5% of UK economic output and in response county and West Midlands MEP Phil Bennion, Lib Dem Employment Spokesman, commented: “The message of the CBI is clear. The business case for staying in the EU is extremely powerful. We are better off in Europe – outside we would be powerless.

“This report spells out the enormous contribution of our membership of Europe’s Single Market – approximately £3,000 for every household per year. The CBI are right to highlight what is at stake. The EU is vital for our economy and millions of jobs.  The benefits massively outweigh the costs. The only way we can secure these advantages and win reforms is by staying a full EU member.  Tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs in the West Midlands region from JLR downwards are already linked to exports and the single market.

“The EU can be even more effective through reforms which the Lib Dems are pushing for. We want to streamline regulations for SMEs and micro enterprises, reduce waste and focus the EU more closely on helping companies to decarbonise and opening up trade. That way we can create many more jobs. Britain should take the lead to make industry in the EU as competitive as possible, not sit on the sidelines.

“The recent EU trade deal with Canada is a blueprint of what could be achieved with the USA, sweeping away barriers to trade which hold back economic recovery on both sides of the Atlantic.”