They don’t like it up ’em!

pete quentin, 30 October 2007

I had my own Dads’ Army experience this weekend – strangely not when accompanying a Veterans’ Association on its battlefield tour of France, but outside the Palace of Westminster…

The visit to the battlefields of the First World War acted as a stark reminder of Europe’s self-destructive past. It is impossible for anyone to imagine the sheer scale of human life lost in the carnage of that conflict but for younger generations it is also a struggle to comprehend the impact this had on our forefathers and across society.
It was refreshing to discuss the issues of Europe and the EU with such politically minded ‘old and bold’, in contrast with an all-too-frequently disinterested younger generation. However it was of most interest as these discussions exposed the distinctly polarised range of opinions of this cohort – either firmly pro-EU or virulently opposed to it.
Those in favour of the current direction of the EU had a single, powerful argument – the peaceful benefits of European cooperation. They stressed the need to never return to the bloodshed of their grandfathers’, fathers’ and in many cases own experiences. Continental peace was the honourable founding aim of the Union, and one that has proven an unquestionable success. But that peace has not come about through political integration, and will certainly not be enhanced by yet more – peace has come through commerce.
The members of the group with a contrasting opinion sometimes bordered on the xenophobic. For these individuals the Germans truly are still the enemy and the EU represents the devious ‘Hun’ conspiracy to gain power by alternative means. National pride and the open wound of 20th Century history lead inadvertently to a worrying form of ‘Little-Englandism’ and excessive Union Jack waving.
Regrettably, examples of this were most readily to be found beyond the battlefields of the Somme this weekend. On Saturday the massed bands of the Eurosceptic movement came to beat the drum in front of parliament. Preliminary discussions about a rally had suggested an attendance in the many thousands as a realistic target. On the day only Old Palace Yard was comfortably occupied, but the number of those rallying to the call was not of concern. There was an unfortunate representation of those same Union Jack waivers and Britannia impersonators. This small, but inevitably highly-visible, group no doubt believe themselves to be charming eccentrics, but they do their cause a disservice. It is too easy to appear nationalist and be dismissed as a noisy but irrelevant minority. If anything it was a good job there was less media coverage than hoped for!
If there is an ‘enemy’ out there they are in the Parliament of Westminster, not Brussels. Fancy dress and the waving of Union Jacks won’t solve this one, only an intelligent destruction of the government’s position on the Treaty, as witnessed by the floundering performance of Miliband before the European Scrutiny Committee. The Civitas debate programme consistently proves that the argument for an increasingly integrated EU does not stand up and that its intelligent deconstruction, combined with effective mobilisation of the average voter, is the only way this political conflict will be won. Turns out Corporal Jones was right, “they don’t like it up ‘em”!