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‘Let's not wait ‘til it comes to us. Let’s get out there and confront this fascist menace directly’
AS BRITAIN goes to vote in European elections no-one expected nearly three years after we voted to leave the EU, Ben Chacko speaks to Stop the War Coalition chair MURAD QURESHI, who’s standing for Labour
Labour's Murad Qureshi

The European Parliament lacks legislative power and cannot change the EU’s policies, which are set by the Commission in line with its treaties, which the parliament can’t amend. What’s the point in electing people to this body – is it not just a waste of public money?

I’ve had the privilege of representing Londoners at City Hall and that’s what I’d be doing in the European Parliament.

I’m well aware of its limitations, but it is an arena where we can raise important issues.

In London we are still living with the fallout from the Grenfell Tower fire and one of our manifesto commitments is to change building and fire safety regulations across Europe, setting a higher standard.

The US is threatening aggression against Iran and Venezuela, and the EU seems complicit in this march to war. The European Parliament voted to recognise Venezuela’s self-declared “president” Juan Guaido, for example. 

Many MEP candidates have signed a pledge to support a second referendum, though you haven’t. What would you say to a Leave supporter who says they can’t trust Labour to implement the referendum?

Feedback I’ve heard from Labour canvassers are that many young people sympathetic to Jeremy Corbyn are thinking of voting Green, which may be linked to the school strikes and Extinction Rebellion protests. What would you say to them?

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