GREEN Party leader Natalie Bennett has mounted a passionate defence of the EU - urging Worcester people to avoid backing a Brexit in a "fit of pique".

The politician visited the city's Cap 'N' Gown pub last night for another of its weekly referendum hustings, saying the bloc "enriches all our lives" by offering common solutions to issues like cyber crime, big corporation tax avoidance, the environmental standards, food safety and worker's rights.

She also told the pub's audience people should only trust Michael Gove "if they really want to", and took a swipe at critics in the Leave campaign who say the EU is undemocratic.

The night also saw county businessman Bill Good, who runs a firm called Diverco, heavily criticise the bloc by saying it takes too long for the 28 member states to agree anything.

Ms Bennett, who earlier in the day had shared a platform with David Cameron in south London, said: "Don't let anyone tell you the EU is undemocratic - decisions are made by MEPs who were elected on a far fairer system than ours.

"The EU is essential to reining in big, multi-national companies, it's essential to our human rights, to tackling environmental problems - it allows us to work together.

"You think of these big companies, with budgets bigger than that of even some countries, if we left the EU, even with a very different Government we'd be small fry to say 'pay your taxes'.

"Inside the EU we can say 'pay your way, meet our environmental standards'."

During her speech she also pointed to the EU putting a cap on bankers' bonuses, taking a swipe at Chancellor George Osborne who failed in a bid to overturn it.

She also said one of the key arguments for staying inside the EU was peace.

"I was speaking to a German MEP at the weekend who said 'why isn't the peace argument getting more traction in the UK?'" she said.

"I couldn't really answer that. We have peace in Europe - if you'd have said to people in 1945, that one day we'd have that, they'd have said 'I hope so, but I don't really believe it'."

"I believe we flourish best when we work together to tackle problems," she said.

"Free movement in the EU, and the possibility of doing that enriches all our lives."

Mr Good countered by telling pub-goers it was time to "get out and make our own laws".

"We need to get sovereignty back for this country," he said.

He said being in the bloc was holding our economy back, criticised the EU for the "right to be forgotten" Google ruling and said EU courts were "undermining" UK law.

"And make no mistake about it, the EU never stands still," he said.

"This is about an ever-closer union - we need to get out now."

Malvern Gazette:

WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW, SAYS UKIP ACTIVIST

A FORMER UKIP parliamentary candidate attended last night's EU hustings debate to dish out flyers on what he called "EU facts".

Richard Ford, a prominent UKIP activist who stood in Gloucester at last year's General Election, turned up to speak for Leave.

His handout claimed the EU "is collapsing" due to the single currency, saying its member states "want out money to try and shore things up and prevent more countries leaving".

It also claimed Turkey "will be a member by 2025", despite David Cameron's recent insistence that it would be "decades" before that happened if ever.

He also used some of his speech during the evening to attack the Prime Minister for failing to reform British parliament, and accused the PM of not being honest with people.

"It's deceit, it's deception, and this referendum gives you one opportunity to believe in your country," he said.

"This is the fifth largest economy in the world, we can do so much more by getting out of the EU and looking to other nations for trade.

"The EU is ultimately going to be an ever closer union - even David Cameron says 50 per cent of our laws are made in Europe, although we think it's 67 per cent."

He also said Britain's human rights laws were created long before it joined the EU, pointing to the right to strike in 1906, National Insurance in 1911, the Race Relations Act in 1965 and de-criminalising homosexuality in 1967.

"All of the rights were introduced long, long before we joined the EU," he said.

But Lawrence Brewer, a retired city businessman speaking for Remain, said the EU was "a force for good".

"Let's stay in, and stay with peace, prosperity and democracy," he said.