Queen’s Speech

Lord Liddle Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Liddle]

My Lords, I follow on from the excellent speech by my noble friend Lord Wood of Anfield on our Front Bench to ask what this Government’s vision is of Britain’s place in the world. The noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, spoke eloquently earlier about Britain as a network. Fair enough, that is essential in a multipolar world but being a good networker is not the foundation stone of an effective foreign policy. That depends on firm alliances in a world where our position is that we will soon represent only about 2% of global GDP.

The transatlantic relationship has been the central plank of our foreign policy for my lifetime. It is what I grew up to believe in. To what extent will that still be the case in the decades of the Asian century now unfolding? What will be the impact of the coming US debt crunch on its defence budget, commitment to Europe and vital ability to help us, as it did in the recent Libyan operation? Alongside America’s reduced resources and increasing shifting focus to the Pacific, there is also every sign of increasing inwardness in the United States. Just look at the defeat of the excellent Senator Lugar in the Indiana primary last week—a man who contributed a lot to internationalism and Atlanticism in his distinguished career.

Yet, at the very moment that America’s Atlanticist commitment is visibly diminishing, the present Government appear to have set a deliberate course of loosening Britain’s ties with the European Union. Last December, we had the Prime Minister’s infamous non-veto—a petulant walk-out on our European partners that is already damaging our interests, for example on the recent financial services regulation. I fear that this is not a one-off. Look at the Government’s decision to focus precious Foreign Office time and resources not on the questions of how we strengthen the European Union and its role in world affairs or secure Britain’s role in what is increasingly an inner core/outer core European Union, but on how we weaken those ties. What else is the meaning of all this babble about repatriation of powers and renegotiation of the relationship, or, in coalition speak—the Liberal Democrats still have some power to change the words if not the substance—rebalancing of competences?

Last year, when the European Union Bill made its way through this House, Ministers assured us that the purpose of the referendum lock was to draw a line under the process of European integration as it affected Britain and enable the Government to go out on the front foot and make the case for British membership of the European Union. Since then, we have waited with bated breath. I was glad to see the reference in the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Howell, to membership of the EU as an essential pillar of our foreign policy, but can the Front Bench opposite point to a single speech or newspaper article in which the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Minister for Europe or any other member of this Government has made a substantial and sustained argument—as opposed to a glancing paragraph—in which they argue the case for British membership of the European Union? I will of course apologise if I am wrong and these speeches and articles can be put in the Library of the House, but I would love to see them.

It is almost 65 years since the mighty, magnificent Ernest Bevin, in the wake of the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, declared that “Europe must unite or perish”. I am thankful that we are in a very different world now, but the basic message remains the same. Today, the challenge is of potential decline: decline in Britain and Europe’s relative economic power; decline in our political clout as power shifts to other parts of the world; and decline in what, for all those terrible episodes in Europe’s past, has been the overall civilising influence of European culture and values. Decline may not bother some people if they think that they will be comfortable in their own lifetime and cosseted by our social model and welfare states, but I fear that this sense of comfort is illusory. The economic crisis we are witnessing now—in Britain as much as in the eurozone—may be deeper and more fundamental. It may be the end of the promise of betterment for future generations and the start, particularly for the low skilled and less fortunate, of a long process of squeezed living standards in response to a doubling of the labour pool available to global capitalism.

The question facing the nations of Europe in this harsh new world is: do we want to be pushed about and powerless, or will we unite to defend our interests and values? We can work together to deepen a single market and invest in research and knowledge that creates a dynamic and vibrant economic base that can withstand more global competition. That is a single market that takes the high road to competitiveness and, through the social and environmental standards of decency and sustainability that it sets and robustly defends, defies a global race to the bottom. That is a united Europe that will not be brushed aside at the world’s top tables on questions of energy, climate change, resources and development. That is a united Europe that can spread the benefits of democracy and stability to its wider regions, be capable of defending its vital interests, and be a force for good.

To conclude, in the next decade, Britain faces a stark choice about its global role. Do we succumb to the false seductions of comfortable little “Britzerland”, or play our full part in rebuilding Europe’s unity and strength? For all the problems of Europe and the eurozone, and all the EU’s difficulties in terms of its bureaucracy and the need to renew and restore its legitimacy, somehow—for the sake of our national interests—we have to make Europe work.