THE GUARDIAN: David Cameron has isolated us in Europe and diminished us in Washington's eyes
When Hugh Gaitskell sat down after making his "end of a thousand years of history" speech against joining Europe at the Labour conference of 1962, he turned to his wife and said: "Look how many are clapping, dear!" She replied: "Yes, dear. But it's the wrong people who are clapping."
This weekend, it's the Eurosceptics who are clapping. Many British newspapers are clapping Mr Cameron for "standing up for Britain" – at last. French ones are clapping M Sarkozy for sticking it up "la perfide Albion" – at last. Those who see Britain as Norway without the oil or Switzerland with nuclear weapons are clapping. But those of us who believe our island's greatness has been about taking the risks of engagement rather than the false security of isolation, feel bereft, sad and depressed.
It wasn't because Mr Cameron's demands were immodest that we are here: they had been negotiated down within the coalition to very little indeed (and preceded by dozens of smoothing European calls from Nick Clegg). Almost nothing was unique for Britain except the right to have stronger regulation for the City.
Mr Cameron's "asks" were rejected, not because they were too great – but because it was he who made them. No other British prime minister of recent years would have had difficulty getting this package through. This was Gallic pay-back time for all that unwise Cameron lecturing – and sometimes worse – from the sidelines these last months. I suspect that if he had asked for a cup of tea, Sarkozy would not have lost the opportunity to refuse it. Not a statesmanlike reaction from Sarkozy to be sure; but a human one.
Beneath the tragedy of last Thursday night, lies a deeper and more disturbing fact than Sarkozy's pique. Long years of anti-European prejudice from the Tory Eurosceptics, laced with downright insults from their supporting press, have now generated a growing anti-British prejudice in many European capitals, not just Paris. » | Paddy Ashdown | Saturday, December 10, 2011
