TWENTY five of the region's 26 Labour MPs have signed an open letter to The Northern Echo calling for people to vote to remain in the EU in next week's referendum.

Ronnie Campbell, a long-time advocate of leaving the EU is the only Labour MP in the North-East not to put his name to it.

The letter reads:

Next Thursday the United Kingdom will make its decision on our future membership of the European Union. As members of the Northern Group of Labour MPs we’re united in our belief that the North East is better off as part of the European Union. As a region we get out more than we pay in to Europe. The North East therefore has the most to lose by a vote to leave on Thursday.

Our membership of the EU has given our region some protection from the worst excesses of right-wing Conservative governments. It has maintained investment in our region, whilst Tories in Westminster have cut our funding, time and time again. Those advocating that we leave the EU are not being straight with the people of this region. They are making promises they can’t deliver on and spending money that simply wouldn’t exist. A vote to leave, together with the economic shock that would follow, would mean cuts to spending in this region, harm to our NHS and will cost North East jobs.

A quick look at the track-records of those arguing for a Tory Brexit, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan-Smith, confirms they don’t have the best interests of our region at heart. Their policy agenda has seen our local communities hit whilst money has been moved to more affluent areas of the county. They’ve overseen the soaring use of food banks and punitive sanctions on some of the most vulnerable in society. They’ve made no secret of their aspiration to cut back the rights of working people. These aren’t politicians driven by the goal of a fairer and more just United Kingdom.

A vote to remain is the best route to the economic growth our region needs. Let’s not turn our backs on future inward investment, new jobs and the world’s largest single market.

Let’s put the North East first and vote to Remain next week.

Yours sincerely

Dave Anderson MP

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP

Tom Blenkinsop MP

Nick Brown MP

Alan Campbell MP

Jenny Chapman MP

Alex Cunningham MP

Julie Elliott MP

Pat Glass MP

Mary Glindon MP

Helen Goodman MP

Stephen Hepburn MP

Sharon Hodgson MP

Kevan Jones MP

Ian Lavery MP

Emma Lewell-Buck MP

Grahame Morris MP

Andy McDonald MP

Catherine McKinnell MP

Ian Mearns MP

Chi Onwurah MP

Bridget Phillipson MP

Anna Turley MP

Phil Wilson MP

Iain Wright MP