BRITAIN will lose its place in the world if it leaves the EU, a Member of European Parliament warned at a meeting held in Dursley.

Dozens attended the event, hosted by Stroud district's Labour Party at Kingshill House last Tuesday, where Clare Moody MEP urged those present to support the fight to remain in the European Union in the run up to the referendum on June 23.

Ms Moody said Britain should continue to play a "central role" in the EU and claimed that "the damage of losing this referendum will last for decades".

Opening the meeting, the MEP, elected in 2014, outlined why she believed staying in the EU - "our neighbourhood" - was the best option for the country before fielding questions from the audience.

After noting the EU's legislation on workplace equality, Ms Moody went on to discuss trade, the European market, immigration, and how remaining within the union could help the fight international battles like climate change and taxation.

"As a Labour Party member I do internationalism. It's in our DNA. We achieve more than we can alone and know we are much more effective when we work together," she said.

"Whatever leaving looks like, what is for certain is that other countries around the world are saying we will be doing ourselves a disservice to exit the EU."

Ms Moody went on to tell a story about to help illustrate the principled reasons behind her support of the EU, dismissing the misconception that the Union was established exclusively for trade purposes.

"At a meeting someone talking from the Leave [the official campaign to leave the EU] point of view said that the EU had been founded for trade but overtime had become much more than that," she said.

"It was not founded for trade. It was founded by men who came together because of the experiences of Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.

"At the time, Europe had been at war throughout all of recorded history, going back to ancient Greece and culminating with the bloodiest half-century.

"Those men said never again, that we must do what we can to make sure we don't start killing each other again. And we must not lose sight of that."

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