Tories' policy on Europe is confused and dangerous

The train I took was full of staff from the various European institutions, people who spend the rest of the working month in Brussels and could perfectly well continue their jobs without the time-consuming and expensive trip to Strasbourg.

As with the enormous amounts of money spent by the EU on subsidising farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the monthly Strasbourg session is an unnecessary expense, particularly at times of financial turmoil, and should be stopped.

But this does not invalidate the vast majority of what the EU achieves. As the last few weeks have made clearer than ever, there are certain fields in which Britain cannot act alone '“ difficulties with the global economy, climate change and migration, for example, can't be fixed without the help of other countries.

Yet David Cameron seems unaware of this. He wants his Conservative MEPs to leave the European People's Party, currently the biggest political group in the European Parliament. While he has not yet announced whether the Tories will join another group or create a new one, what is clear is that the Conservatives (and potentially Britain) will become more isolated than ever '“ something which his own MEPs have pointed out.

Labour, meanwhile, realises the EU's importance to Britain. Labour MEPs have led work to reduce mobile roaming charges across Europe. They have helped establish the world's most successful carbon emissions trading scheme. Only last week, Gordon Brown led the EU's response to the current financial crisis, and world leaders have since heaped praise upon him for his leadership. None of this would have happened under the Tories.

At the moment, the UK leads in many areas and is often seen as a benchmark in Europe - under Cameron this position would be lost.

Though the European Union certainly has its faults, to leave the EU or to choose a 'second tier' status would be foolish. In areas ranging from the environment to the economy to transport, we would be so much further from achieving our goals. So it is a scary thought that the Tories, given the chance, might put us in exactly that position.