Europe and the Nation

By Roger Scruton

Anthony O’Hear has already commented on Ed Miliband’s appropriation of the ‘one nation’ idea, in order to make a bid for the patriotic vote. Just when this particular disciple of Eric Hobsbawm decided to abandon the internationalist cause is not entirely clear. But one thing is certain, the Tory Party will be very much to blame if it fails to impress on the electorate that it is the party of the nation. Conservatives are heir to a tradition that puts national sovereignty at the centre of politics, and which identifies the nation as the unifying object of our loyalties. The causes espoused by the Labour Party are not, as a rule, national causes. The attitude of the Party in domestic affairs has been deliberately divisive, setting class against class, making war on institutions that represent ‘privilege’ (which often signifies nothing more than merit), and gratuitously pouring scorn on family values and old fashioned respectability.  In the matter of Europe it has been normal for Labour politicians to sneer at the ‘Little Englanders’ who question the way things are going (the disgraced Denis MacShane, once Minister of State for Europe, was particularly given to this habit). And when it comes to the Union, it is very clear that the Labour Party wants to have it both ways – to break it up, and at the same time to retain the Celtic vote in Westminster in order to oppress the English.

The test case for the Tory Party is of course Europe. The European organism has developed according to the principles programmed into it by Jean Monnet, and concealed within the Treaties. It has grown to such an extent that its obligatory inheritance of laws and regulations – the acquis communautaire – now runs to 180,000 pages. For the thirteenth year in succession auditors have refused to sign off its accounts. It has a President from a country that hardly has a government, half of whose people are itching to have a nation state of their own. It has a foreign minister who has never stood for an election and who rose through the ranks of leftist NGOs and quangos to become the Labour Party’s representative (but not the representative of you or me) on the international stage. It awakens no loyalty in the ordinary people of Europe, who must constantly be prevented from voting on its legitimacy. And in every matter in which it depends on popular support it leans on the national sentiments that its officially propaganda covers with suspicion. In a way there is no greater proof of the need for the nation than the EU, which tells us that it, and it alone, brings peace to the nations of Europe, and in doing so surreptitiously reminds us of the thing to which our communal and political life is really owed.

Europe is, and will forever be, a continent of nation states. Its people have passed their own laws, and rejected the attempts by Popes, Emperors and internationalists to dictate those laws from outside their borders. Those are the premises from which a coherent European politics must flow. Now that the grey apparatchiks who destroyed Margaret Thatcher have drifted away, it is surely time for the Tory Party to repossess itself of those premises, and to ask itself what the national interest requires.

Comments

[Boudicca]

"Conservatives are heir to a tradition that puts national sovereignty at the centre of politics"

The modern CONservatives aren't. The majority of Conservative MPs, who ignore the wishes of their Constituents and troop through the lobbies to ensure that powers which have been transferred to to the EU remain there, aren't either.

Cameron certainly isn't.

The Heirs to that tradition are now found in UKIP.

[Marc Heine]

"It has a President from a country that hardly has a government, half of whose people are itching to have a nation state of their own."

On the whole, I agree with the substance of Scruton's argument, but who can he possibly mean here? The EU President is Barroso, who is Portuguese. Leaving aside the question of whether or not Portugal has a true government, it is hardly the case that half of its people want a separate nation-state.

Is he perhaps confusing Portugal and Spain? Certainly there are many Basques, and probably even more Catalans, who would like their own separate state, but this is hardly true of Portugal.

[Malcolm Rasala]

Roger Scruton tells us " Conservatives are heir to a tradition that puts national sovereignty at the centre of politics, and which identifies the nation as the unifying object of our loyalties". What about the national sovereignty of India or Australia or Canada or all those African and Asian nation states we subsumed into the British Empire? What care did Britain show for the national sovereignity those nation states. Or is our national sovereignty of a different order to the sovereignity of other nation states. Sorry Roger as always your political tribalism clouds your ability to objectively see reality. Hence your conclusions are not really of much worth for those of us seeking a degree of objective 'truth'

[Peter Day]

The inference was Van Rompuy of Belgium, although most people get confused over who really is the president of the EU

[John]

Europe is, and will forever be, a continent of nation states. Europe is a geographic area where over 100 million people have died in the last hundred years from (pointless) wars between those states
Most of those states are less than 100 years old (including Britain). Those states were formed by wars. They exist through force, not consent. By and large they are totally artificial.
For instance the Scots hate the English and everybody hates the Welsh. (OK I exaggerate)
Britain is about to break up. Scotland will leave the Union, Northern Ireland soon after.
The Prime Minister has said there will be no growth in the UK until at least 2020.
Britain is currently about the eighth largest economy in the world. By 2020 it will be about fifteenth.
Britain has the twentieth standard of living per head in the world. By 2020 it will be about fiftieth
Who cares about the UK?

[radsatser]

" Conservatives are heir to a tradition that puts national sovereignty at the centre of politics, and which identifies the nation as the unifying object of our loyalties"

Conservatives are heir to a tradition that has given away our national sovereignty practically on a whim, in response to the delusional beliefs of unrepresentative cliques within the party.

The Conservative party is principally responsible for giving away our national sovereignity to the EU, and whilst for political purposes it might like to forget its treachery, there are many of us who have no intention of allowing it to do so, neither will we allow their co-conspirators in the Lib Dem and Labour parties to forget their treachery either.

[John Henson]

What about the national sovereignty of India or Australia or Canada or all those African and Asian nation states we subsumed into the British Empire?

I think you'll find that these, unlike us, are now independent sovereign nations - or have I missed something?

[Pete]

I think Mr Scruton means van Rompuy, Mark - you know, the Belgian guy who looks like Smeagol. The EU - in its different guises and layers - has about five different Presidents. It can be very confusing...

[Axstane]

Malcolm Ra

Neither Australia nor Canada were nation states. They are now.

[Ken Stevens]

"become the Labour Party’s representative (but not the representative of you or me) on the international stage"

Neither Baroness Ashton nor any other EU Commissioner represents any individual nation or faction thereof. Whilst nominated by states, upon appointment they make a solemn declaration before the Court of Justice of the European Union as follows:

Having been appointed as a Member of the European Commission by the European Council, following the vote of consent by the European Parliament I solemnly undertake:
to respect the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the fulfilment of all my duties;
to be completely independent in carrying out my responsibilities, in the general interest of the Union;
in the performance of my tasks, neither to seek nor to take instructions from any Government or from any other institution, body, office or entity;
to refrain from any action incompatible with my duties or the performance of my tasks.
I formally note the undertaking of each Member State to respect this principle and not to seek to influence Members of the Commission in the performance of their tasks.
I further undertake to respect, both during and after my term of office, the obligation arising therefrom, and in particular the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after I have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits."

Does even the eminent Roger Scruton have the intellectual capacity to reconcile this with the Privy Council Oath of Allegiance previously sworn by the Baroness (.. ditto previous UK-nominated Commissioners) ? !!

[davidjs]

Roger - You are confusing the idea(l) of a united Europe with the implementation.

The idea that Europe could do without the influences and democratic instincts of the UK is ludicrous. What's need is that the UK(or England, should that transpire) should be a leader in moulding Europe into a better form - something that's been badly lacking over many years. For goodness sake stop carping and fix it up to be what it should be.

One can't join a great institution, and when things don't go the right way say "I don't want to play anymore". There's plenty that need repair in Europe, and the UK is one of the great forces for democracy, accountability and more.

I live in Spain (for 25 years), have always been Conservative in outlook - was a Conservative Councillor many years ago. But never a "little Englander". I feel at home in Europe, and feel a great affinity with the Spanish, and other Europeans that I encounter. I also find that the issues I see in Europe are widely shared with other Europeans. I feel so frustrated that there's no-one giving a lead in organising reform and then actually sorting things out - the UK should be doing that. There will be masses of support.

I find the community arrangements on standardisation, health, etc a great benefit, and the common currency too in shopping around the EU. Visiting the UK is more of a pain, with currency conversions helping no-one but the banks.

Join the common currency, help sort out the organisation and running of the EU, and in 100 years everyone will look back and not only wonder what all the fuss was about, but profoundly thank the UK for helping rescue Europe once more.

[Peter Day]

David, even Lady Thatcher realised that the EU is unreformable, and because there was an increasing likelihood that she would take us out of the EU, her Europhile MPs got rid of her first. Those of us that want out of the EU are not 'little Englanders' as you assume. We are Eurorealists that have a global view of UK trade, rather than the narrow one centred on the EU, which is declining and will continue to do so. The UK can still enjoy free trade and good relations with the EU by being outside of it, just like other countries. If it's a choice of wholly in or wholly out, then as Winston Churchill rightly said, it must be out.

[Peter Day]

Indeed, the UK could 'rescue' Europe by leaving the EU, which would precipitate the return to nation states, as before, and avoid the turmoil being experienced by those MSs trapped in the Euro, whose only escape would be to return to their old currencies.

[John]

We could leave the eu. That is a huge leap in the dark.l
We could have a free trade agrenent with the eu, and pigs might fly.
It is also a huge leap in the dark.
Probably the conservative party is no longer needed

[Peter Day]

John, Iceland left the EU when its banks crashed and it became bankrupt. It took just a few years to recover from scratch and has now got a higher growth rate than every EU MS. As for a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, if 50 other countries can have one, then the UK could certainly negotiate one, especially as the EU sells more to the UK than the UK sells to the EU.

[Peter Day]

As for the Conservative Party, they got us into this mess, so they should get us out, but in the absence of doing so, then UKIP will force them

[davidjs]

Peter - There's no dichotomy between being in the EU and having effectively a huge home market (that's what made the USA so successful) and trading successfully with the rest of the world.

You're wrong - it isn't one or the other - it's both.

And as for UKIP forcing anything - in your dreams! The most they might enable is another Labour government - more of a nightmare than a dream. Vote UKIP get Labour is an apt slogan.

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One positive sign is that the EU block is still resilient amidst each countries' struggles in economics. But Europe is an organism with various ecosystems and it is inevitable that the there is conflict amidst each proposition.

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