Britain
once again
has sabotaged Europe
By
Jonathan
Power
June 11, 2003
LONDON - "What is Europe?" Winston Churchill wrote in
1946, "A rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground
for pestilence and hate"- language that would not be out
of place on one side of the vitriolic debate on the Euro,
a new European constitution and indeed all things
European that is now the everyday grist of Britain's most
populist press and which spills over not only into the
Conservative party, as it has since the days of prime
minister Margaret Thatcher, but into the ambivalence in
the Labour party leadership that is unable to bite the
bullet on taking Britain into full membership of the Euro
currency.
Yet Churchill, aware of Europe's problems- a hundred
times worse than today, if not a thousand- reached a
different conclusion. On 19th September, 1946, speaking
in Zurich a bare six months after his more famous Iron
Curtain speech, Churchill appealed for a United States of
Europe. "We must proclaim the mission and the design of
Europe whose moral conception will win the respect and
gratitude of mankind, and whose physical strength will be
such that no will dare molest her tranquil sway‚" I
hope to see a Europe where men and women of every country
will think of belonging to their native land, and
wherever they go in this wide domain they truly feel, 'I
am at home'".
The vision of the victor of World War 2 was splendid
to behold, all the more so when set against the
pussyfooting of Britain's current political leadership.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has had his moment of
opportunity for putting his country at the centre of
Europe and missed it twice. This time, when the
government has announced that Britain's economy is not
sufficiently synchronized with that of the Euro zone to
allow for a smooth entry, the reason is clearly, if not
bogus, insufficient. It is simply that Blair has not
thrown his heart into the battle in the way he did to
align Britain's position with America's on its ambition
to depose Saddam Hussein.
The first time was when Blair first came to power with
a huge majority. Although before the election he had
boxed himself in by promising a referendum on the Euro
and indicated that this was to be at some later date, he
could have used the flush of overwhelming victory to
announce that he had now "read the books", that it was in
Britain's interest to enter the Euro at the onset and he
was calling a referendum in two month's time. Very few
would have wanted to vote "no" at this moment of
enthusiasm in British political life after the savage
infighting and grim anti-Europeanism of the previous
Conservative government.
Admittedly it is not easy to push Britain towards
Europe. The internal resistance, which the popular press
rides on, is immense. The British have always looked at
the continent as if from a great distance. Although from
the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
the kingdom of England was deeply involved in continental
affairs after that, having absorbed its neighbours in the
British Isles, it sailed away to build an Empire at the
four corners of the world. Only the end of Empire brought
Britain back, but even then it was with the utmost
difficulty that it could mentally detach itself
sufficiently from the United States to put Europe first
and decide after years of debate to seek entry into
Europe.
This present negative decision to stay out of the Euro
adds to the current European crisis because it comes at
the worst of times. It comes after one of Britain's
periodic lurches across the Atlantic into American arms.
And it comes just when Europe is welcoming in new members
from the far side of the old Iron Curtain. And it comes
when Europe is debating a Constitution that will
determine both the democratic method of Europe for the
future, the way its leadership will be structured, and
not least how much it will go down the road towards
Churchill's vision of it being a superpower (albeit a
quiet one, more in accord with today's non- militaristic
mood) and one where every European feels equally at home
wherever they are.
Europe at the moment is in a fragile state. It is
still reeling from its quarrel with America over Iraq. It
is worried stiff about how to bring in the east
Europeans, and before long, Turkey, Russia and maybe even
Israel (as part of a peace deal) without making the
running of Europe a bureaucratic nightmare. It is divided
on whether it wants a powerful permanent president to
give those who want "ever closer union" some substance.
And all this is happening at a time when the economies of
most of its member countries are performing badly.
Britain, which could have been in at the onset of all
things European, from the days of the creation of the
Common Market of the founding six countries to the
present day Euro, the natural post war leader, has chosen
to be semi-detached. By making a united, integrated,
Europe harder to create, it pushes further away the day
when the early visionaries like Churchill can rest
quietly in their graves knowing that Europe is so locked
together the terrible conflicts, wars and the "hate
filled" relationships of yesterday will never return.
I can be reached by phone +44
7785 351172 and e-mail: JonatPower@aol.com
Copyright © 2003 By
JONATHAN POWER
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