Labour is already tiptoeing towards the EU. David Lammy's first act as Foreign Secretary was to tour Europe promising a 'reset'. He will put the Brexit rows behind him,he says,and 'reconnect' with the EU.
How? Brussels sources expect conversations to start in ten days' time at Blenheim Palace,when Britain takes its turn at hosting a twice-yearly pan-European summit.
It is an ironic choice of venue. Blenheim was given to the Duke of Marlborough in 1705 after he won the battle of that name,thereby ensuring that Europe did not fall under the domination of a single power (the French). Britain was to play the same role again and again,beating Napoleon,the Kaiser and Hitler,and helping liberate Central Europe from Communism.
Now,after three centuries of fighting for the independence of smaller European countries,we are preparing to sacrifice our own to the very bloc we voted to leave.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly
Lammy was even more fanatical,likening Eurosceptics to Nazis and,when challenged,saying he had not gone far enough.
These are not pragmatists looking for a win-win deal,but ideologues prepared to pay an economic price to get closer to Brussels. No wonder EU chiefs,led by the Irish prime minister welcome the opportunity.
Yesterday,Lammy referred to Ernest Bevin,the former lorry driver who became Clement Attlee's foreign secretary,as 'my political hero'. Bevin was indeed an admirable politician,a flinty patriot with a way of cutting through people's pretensions.
When it was suggested that Britain should join the fledgling EEC,Bevin,in his no-nonsense Somerset drawl,responded: 'If you open that Pandora's Box,you never know what Trojan 'osses'll jump out.'
He was right. And he would surely tell his successor the same thing today.
Lord Hannan is International Secretary of the Conservative Party and serves on the Board of Trade
BrusselsLabour
