Don’t repeat mistake of 1938
October 29th, 1991
A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 29th October 1991.
It was written by senior members of the Campaign for an independent Britain: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Chairman), Sir Robin Williams (Secretary), Austin Mitchell (Labour MP and vice-chairman), Professor Stephen Bush (vice-chairman).
The news that the present Prime Minister is flying to Germany to see Chancellor Kohl will cause despondency in those who recall or know of the flight of another Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. He flew to meet another German Chancellor in a similarly vain attempt to appease the unappeasable.
Every Westminster MP must recognise by now that it is not the freedom and independence of a small country “of which we know little” which is at stake, as in 1938, but that of our very own homeland.
Continental countries led by France and Germany want the complete surrender of this country to their bidding on all fundamental matters, particularly where, as is usually the case, our interests and theirs are opposed. Besides wishing to abolish our currency, Germany wants us to give up our seat on the Security Council at the United Nations, an organisation which we helped to set up.
The EC Commission aims to control our external relations, particularly those with the United States, and in short order thereafter deployment of our armed forces. In trade the GATT negotiatios show how we are already being conscripted to fight our natural friends and allies in the English speaking world.
As usual, a British government is trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Instead of rushing to appease Chancellor Kohl, Mr Major should sit tight, veto political union and let the Germans carry out their threat to veto economic and monetary union – and if they don’t, we should.
We can leave the other 11 countries to form their 1940s-inspired union and let it wristle with the combined problems of millions of economic refugees, the Common Agricultural Policy and the importunate demands of Spain, Greece and Portugal, unsubsidised by the British taxpayer.
For Britain to escape from this nightmare of the past and rejoin the future, all that is needed is a little courage on the part of the Government to face the plain fact that this is the parting of the ways.