A Good Letter

An excellent letter in this week's Spectator from the unashamed (and therefore mildly admirable) Europhile Denis Macshane.

... is there not an uncanny parallel between the rise of the Scottish desire to quit England and the English desire to quit Europe? The same arguments about control from a city outside the nation; about elites and technocrats dictating to and imposing upon a sturdy independent people.

He makes a good point but ignores the reasons why it is possible to be both a Unionist and a Euro-sceptic. It comes down to what the union in question can stand for. Despite my current contempt for most of our higher political class there is an important distinction between what the two unions might achieve. For anyone of a socialist or libertarian leaning the EU is already broken beyond repair - in fact it was built broken - it has always been (a fact that the likes of Edward Heath failed to acknowledge) a vehicle for a mainland European style of social democracy. The United Kingdom still (just about) offers hope to both left and right. We are at our best when radical and moral. It's a tricky old balancing act but it's worth the effort.