August/September
2004 - CER BULLETIN, ISSUE 37
THE PECULIARITIES OF THE BRITISH
By CHARLES GRANT
In
most European countries, those who dislike the EU tend to be the poor and the
less educated, who fear for their future and travel little. The politicians
who speak for such people tend to come from the far left or far right. Those
who are well-educated, travel a lot and lead comfortable lives usually support
the EU. The mainstream political parties in most member-states are 'pro-European'.
Britain, however, is different. A large and influential section of its ruling
class is virulently anti-French, anti-German and anti-Brussels. Even amongst
politically moderate and highly intelligent people, one sometimes hears disparaging
comments about the French and the Germans that, if said about other ethnic groups,
would be socially unacceptable.
In Britain, it is increasingly fashionable to argue that the EU is an out-of-date,
failing project that will not survive the era of globalisation. Business people
and financiers have become particularly sceptical in recent years, generally
viewing the EU principally as the source of every regulation they dislike (the
EU is the source of some bothersome regulations, but the British government
has usually voted in favour and then implemented them in an over-detailed manner).
While 'only'16 per cent backed the UK Independence Party in the recent European
elections, opinion polls show that around 40 per cent of the British would support
withdrawal from the EU. Whatever their true feelings about Europe, ambitious
young journalists or politicians know that a good way to make a mark is to adopt
a eurosceptical stance. That is evident even in institutions such as the BBC
and the Labour Party, which are not traditional bastions of anti-EU sentiment.
On my travels, when asked why the British are eurosceptical, I offer four explanations
three of which are easily understood. These are history, and especially
Britain's relatively glorious role in World War Two; geography, which placed
Britain on the edge of Europe and open to the oceans; and economics the
UK has out-performed much of the continent over the past ten years.
The fourth explanation, which is not easily understood outside the UK, is that
Britain has a unique popular press. Of the 30 million people who read a daily
newspaper, three-quarters read papers that are determined to make people dislike
the EU. The remaining quarter read papers which, though broadly pro-European,
still print much that criticises the EU. In the eurosceptic newspaper groups,
journalists are expected to write stories that knock the Union. Articles which
attempt to present a balanced account of an EU issue are unlikely to be published.
The Times and the Telegraph, two serious newspapers, almost never
print an opinion piece that presents the EU in a favourable light.
In
no other European country is it acceptable for leading journalists to report
tendentiously on, or even lie about, the EU. Take a few recent examples. Edward
Heathcoat Amory writes in the Daily Mail that the constitutional treaty
means we would "have to give up our vital seat on the UN Security Council
if the EU Foreign Minister asked for it". In the same paper Melanie Phillips
says of the European Court of Justice that its "overt purpose is to bring
about a superstate". And in the Times, Irwin Stelzer claims the
constitution will force Britain to give up the pound even if there is
no UK referendum on joining the euro. Journalists get away with such factual
inaccuracies because they are accountable to no one but their bosses and they
face no sanction. The British system of press regulation is toothless and does
virtually nothing to encourage truth-telling or balance.
Of course, not everyone believes everything they read in the press. But the
steady drip, drip, of anti-EU propaganda over many years, having permeated deep
into Britain's political culture, has finally triggered a major shift in public
opinion. The momentum is towards withdrawal from the EU, but that is not inevitable.
Britain's social and economic model with its welfare state, trade unions
and redistributive taxation is closer to that of the continent than the
US. Like most of Europe, Britain believes in a system of multilateral global
governance that includes a strong role for the UN and a range of international
bodies and treaties such as the Kyoto protocol and the International Criminal
Court. Many of Britain's social values are closer to those of secular Europe
than religious America.
But the eurosceptic tide cannot be turned unless Britain's political leaders
are prepared to explain the benefits of EU membership; unless business and trade
union leaders point to the huge economic cost of withdrawal; and unless Parliament
reforms and strengthens the system of press regulation, so that journalists
think twice before being cavalier with the truth.
