European Affairs

I rise to participate in this debate with a certain amount of regret, as it will almost certainly be the last meeting of this Euro Sealed Knot society. We fight over the old battles at regular intervals, but we change uniforms from time to time: the Conservative party used to be so enthusiastic about Europe that it turned Baroness Thatcher out, whereas the Labour party was so unenthusiastic that it stood on a platform of withdrawal in 1983. Our leader in that election, Michael Foot, did not seem to understand that platform, but I certainly did, and I took it to mean what it said. Our situation was transformed when Neil Kinnock, now Lord Kinnock, stood on the cliffs of Dover, held out his rod, parted the waters of the channel and led the chosen people—that is to say, the Labour party's Front Benchers—over to the other side. I stayed on the cliffs, rather like the character in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" watching the actions of Alec Guinness and saying, "Madness, madness!" I have remained on those cliffs ever since. People who wanted a career in the Labour party would have been well advised to transfer to the other side, which is what most of them did. On our side of the House, Euro-enthusiasm has become almost a matter of religion. Certainly, it has replaced socialism in the biography of the Labour party, so it is a matter for regret that today's skirmish will be the last one before the election.