Britons’ real fears
March 16th, 1990
A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 16th March 1990.
George Walden (article, March 14th) should realise that this politicians’ fear of Britain being marginalised that we hear so much about in the press is not shared by the mass of the people of Britain.
A nation’s influence is not determined by how many international conference top tables its politicians get invited to, but by its industrial strength, as the example of Japan makes so very clear. Many of the people who work in our industries are quietly confident about Britain’s ability to hold its own in a fair trading system.
What they really fear is that Britain’s independence and ability to negotiate fair terms of trade will be further sacrificed to the Euro-roleplaying ambitions of politicians of the Heath-Heseltine stamp – ambitions which led last year to our subsidising our Continental competitors to the tune of £4,500 million.