CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stay in the European Union say leaving would weaken Barnet’s “cultural connections”.

Alasdair Hill is the leader of ‘Britain is Stronger in Europe’ which is holding its first meeting at The Bohemia, in North Finchley, tonight.

The former Liberal Democrat MP candidate lives in Barnet and wants to bring pro-EU people of all parties together.

He said: “Barnet is such a diverse community – we’ve got loads of people from different parts of Europe and it would be a shame if we lost that connection.

“Barnet is buzzing – there are bloggers, campaigns and a lot of politics – so we want to tap into that and create a cross-party group.

“We need to make sure there’s an alternative voice in Barnet.”

Prime Minister David Cameron wants UK to re-negotiate its membership to the EU and is expected to campaign for Britain to stay in.

But others say there is too much legislation and interference from Brussels and want to see the UK break free.

Mr Hill added: “Barnet is becoming one of the largest London boroughs but leaving would place an additional barrier on us.

“We’ll no longer be in the free trade area, it could cost our businesses more and we’ll end up losing out.

“We are part of the largest community in the world where we’ve had peace for so many decades – we don’t want to get rid of that.”

The meeting will be held at 7pm tonight.