With his trademark self-satisfied grin, Tony Blair ended 2005 with a spectacular sell-out of British interests as he negotiated away a sizeable proportion of our EU rebate.
Not since Munich has a British Prime Minister returned from European negotiations with such an empty hand, and then tried to dress it up as a success. Appeasement is a bad starter; let us hope that we do not pay the price in 2006.
The 1938 analogy is particularly apt and must have been hanging on Blair’s conscience. For it was he who brought back the memories of the war years when he tried to chastise UKIP in the European Parliament by referring to 1945. That was where we lived, he said, and Europe has moved on since. Moved on, perhaps; forgotten, never.
And if I had to choose, for my part I’d rather live in 1945 than 1938.
In 1945 we were at least able to celebrate the defeat of the last great effort to create a united Europe, and a pretty nasty one at that. Britain had summoned up its every effort to preserve its freedom and independence. In 2006, in a different way, we have to do the same.
In the 1930’s there were plenty who saw no problem with Hitler’s Germany. Churchill’s voice of warning was dismissed. Politicians thought they could do a deal with Hitler and still preserve British independence and traditions. 1939 put an end to all of that.
Today it is fashionable in many quarters to believe that Britain can somehow be part of the EU and not lose our independence and traditions. The Labour Government sometimes says that, though they do not seem too bothered most of the time about either independence or tradition. It is a more common theme from Tory boy David Cameron who purports to want to preserve our sovereignty but remains firmly committed to EU membership.
But all of this is just another form of appeasement. The British political elite are obsessed with the idea that “if we’re nice” to the European federalists they’ll “let us” keep “most of” our sovereignty. Very generous of them, I’m sure. So we have to pay back our rebate or accept a few more directives or agree to an EU constitution but called something different, each another turn of the ratchet. In return? They’ll listen to a few of our suggestions and keep us on board.
This diplomatic dance misses two vital points. The first is that the end result is the same whether the dance is fast or slow. At a high price we do not change the EU, we merely buy ourselves time. The second point is that most of us didn’t want to dance in the first place. There is no point in negotiating compromises to please the other side so they “keep us on board” if we don’t want to be on board in the first place.
Appeasement diplomacy also forgets the lesson that the Dane, or in this case the Commission, always comes back for more. The story of Blair’s relations with Brussels shows just that. First he was going to protect every penny of the rebate; then it would give away less than £1bn; once conceded they wanted more, and so it became £1bn a year; now we are being told Britain may end up losing £1.9bn a year. And they will still be back.
So I’m glad Tony Blair brought up the subject of 1945. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. Tony Blair ought to be less glib when he dismisses the past or he may find the past catches up with him.
But who is he anyway to lecture on this theme? Labour’s idea of central planning and a federal Europe is the one that is out of date, we have moved beyond the failed experiment to a world of global trade.
History also shows that, sadly, the Conservative Party behaves no better in Government. Far from being more promising than in the past, the new leadership shows all the signs of being less trustworthy on European issues. They are offering no hope on this vital issue.
But there is a Party that has a clear, principled position and a consistent set of policies. That is our Party, UKIP. In 2006 it rests with us to fight for the cause of British independence. We must increase our strength and effectiveness so that the old Parties know they cannot press on with their European policies unchallenged or hide them from public view.
In wishing you a happy and successful New Year, I hope you will continue to support UKIP in its work both as a Party and a pressure group in order to help ensure that we make further progress in 2006.
Yours faithfully
ROGER KNAPMAN MEP
Happy New Year
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