"The EU and Its
Threat to the British-American Special Relationship"
Our Mar 4th speaker, John Browne, was a Member of the British Parliament under
Margaret Thatcher. During his period of service, he was elected Chairman of the Conservative Small Business Committee, appointed
a Member of the powerful Treasury Select Committee, and selected as a Delegate to the North Atlantic Assembly, the political
arm of NATO. He has a long public record of fighting against legislation favoring
Britain’s participation in the European Union.
In addressing the World Affairs Council, John talked of the “special relationship”
that exists between the U.S. and Britain explained how he sees that relationship as being in jeopardy with UK membership in
the European Union. Once the U.K joins the EU they will be bound by consensus
from Brussels and can no longer pursue independent policy so essential the US/UK relationship.
Browne explained how his minority United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) is fighting an uphill battle to take Britain
out of the European Union to prevent what he perceives will be the loss of many freedoms now taken for granted in England,
and the U.S.
Browne began by telling us that it was “chilling times for England.”
Not unlike the Battle for Britain in WWII. Since those times, NATO has been a
great force of peace and the United States and England have had a truly special relationship which results from economic trade,
a common language and common legal system. The essence of the relationship is
“a shared ideal for freedom.” He characterized the difference between
the U.K/U.S. and the rest of the world as being our shared desire to have peace with freedom and not peace at any cost.
Europe in 1945 was again devastated and exhausted from years of war. The prevailing mood provided the impetuous for the belief that a United Europe could mean the end to centuries
of war as countries banded together under a common political structure were less likely to fight each other. However, the evolution of European relationships turned from fear to greed with formation of the European
Political Union and the redefined nature of strategic peace. Browne believes
that many of the leaders of Europe propose to do away with nation states to create a common unified European nation, the so-called
United States of Europe.
Browne articulated three major concerns with the draft constitution for the European Union
to be adopted in June 2004. He believes (1) that Britain will lose basic individual
freedoms, like habeas corpus and the required proof of guilt, imbued in English common law, (2) that proposed structure for
representation will result in loss of accountability when several members represent a district, and (3) funding goes to parties
that support the Europe Union and in Browne’s’ view there is little tolerance to opposition.
Browne pointed to recent polls in England showed 76% of the British population do not want
further movement toward the European Union and 54% want to withdraw from the European Union altogether. He feels most would rather join the U.S. in a free trade area that might include all English speaking nations.
Browne
concluded by reiterating his belief that the current major parties in the U.K. are not representing the interests of the population.
The United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) has been formed to represent the population in opposing England’s continued
membership in the European Union. With a new European constitution due in June
of this year he feels time is of the essence. The UKIP is initiating a publicity
campaign to make the population aware of the Party and its position against the EU.
