UKIP and the Conservative right 'have to be classified as cheap patriots'

There is no case for Brexit. This is increasingly obvious. Boris Johnson’s crazed outburst, comparing the ambitions of EU leaders to Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, is further evidence of the desperation of a campaign that is all politics and personality with no principles or concerns about people.

The history of the EU has been about peace and security. Johnson’s comments are a new low in this debate.

Ignorant about the history of Europe, unwilling to distinguish between fact and fiction and lacking any understanding of Britain’s search for a role in a rapidly changing world, the Leave campaign has now become a vehicle for anti-immigration sentiment and a depressing hostility towards foreigners.

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The core concerns of the radical right in Britain are divisive and a serious distraction from the real problems and challenges facing both Britain and the EU.

Ethnic nationalism, xenophobia, authoritarianism and populism are stirring up disaffection and mistrust and creating a divisive ‘us and them’ political culture.

The EU has become the focus of concerns about the loss of sovereignty, but again, internationalism, interdependence and a broader humanity require shared aspirations and sovereignty. 

Debunking the myths, lies and distortions attributed to EU membership is vital, but this should be accompanied by a more positive embrace of the solidarity, stability and security achieved through a peace that has been the hallmark of the countries within the EU since its creation via the Treaty of Rome in 1958.

NATO has played its role in securing the peace of Europe, but this would not have happened without the remarkable achievements of the six original countries who formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, and then the Treaty of Rome.

We have short memories. In 1945, Europe lay in ruins, destroyed by war. We shouldn’t forget that in 1870, 1914 and 1945, France and Germany were at war. Between 1939 and 1945, militarism, fascism and an ugly nationalism engulfed Europe in a conflagration on an epic scale.

There had to be a way to reconcile the interests of warring nations. Based on the efforts and vision of great post-war statesmen including Churchill, economic policy, industry, trade and the vision of a single market became the building blocks of the remarkable success story that is now a peaceful EU.

Euro-cynics and the right of the Tory party would have us believe that the existence of the EU has nothing to do with 70 years of peace in Europe.

This is the message from those in the Conservative Party and UKIP who seem incapable of facing up to the fact that Britain no longer rules the waves, controls an empire or has any unique or special relationship with the USA.

A new world view is needed. This is a time to see the EU as our future and celebrate the contribution of the EU as peacemaker.

Post war, the EU delivered peace, security, prosperity and solidarity in difficult times. Despite the lack of a common foreign policy, still evident from the handling of the migration crisis, developments of global significance have taken place.

John McCormick captures these achievements in his book, Why Europe Matters: The Case for the European Union:  the integration of three former dictatorships into the EU and the revival of democracy in Greece, Portugal and Spain; the idea of war between Germany and France being unthinkable; the integration of post-Cold War countries of Eastern Europe into the EU; the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the unification of Germany; and on the edges of the EU, nationalism, ethnic cleansing and genocide have been confronted in the Balkans as countries now clamour for membership.

Most of Europe has moved from a continent of war to that of peace. This spread of democratic change was recognised with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU in 2012.

What the extreme euro-cynics fail to explain or even hint at, is the degree to which the EU is run by member state governments, Britain included. That Brussels has somehow accumulated independent powers and has the ability to make decisions without the input of national governments or their representatives is the ultimate enduring fiction about the EU.

The eurosceptics would have us believe the EU is some out-of-control monster desperate to destroy a thousand years of glorious British history. This myth-making on an industrial scale has poisoned the debate on the topic.

For decades, the right of the Conservative Party has tried to monopolise patriotism and national pride and fought against inclusivity, diversity and solidarity. There has to be a ‘them and us’, as this is the way society has to function.

The populist leaders of UKIP and the Conservative right have to be classified as cheap patriots, doing enormous damage to the country and staking out a future that lacks moral purpose and thrives on division.

However, we should be aware that political parties who wish to isolate Britain will succeed if there is no alternative narrative and a narrow form of cheap patriotism remains uncontested.