Anthony Painter

by William French

“Fog in Channel – Continent cut off”. The old apocryphal headline may no longer apply in this age of Eurostar and instant digital communications, but its spirit remains all too present in British politics. David Cameron’s government wishes to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights, and even refused to sign up to a new EU directive against human trafficking because of its qualified majority voting requirements. The Liberal Democrats are both unwilling and unable to exercise any restraining influence, either here or on the issue of the Tories’ unsavoury far-right allies in the European Parliament.

So far, so predictable. It suits both Cameron and Clegg to keep quiet about Europe; the former avoids evoking memories of the 1990s Tory civil war and Maastricht “bastards,” while the latter draws a veil over yet another colossal Lib Dem sellout. But the issue was also hardly raised at all in the Labour leadership campaign, except for Ed Balls trumpeting his opposition to Britain joining the euro. He may well have been vindicated on that front, but in truth a much wider debate is needed, and Ed Miliband needs to show that Labour’s “new generation” is serious and committed towards shaping a progressive European agenda.

Labour has had a conflicted relationship with “Europe” and its various stages of political union, ever since Ernie Bevin rejected Jean Monet’s 1950s plan for a European Coal and Steel Community because “the Durham Miners wouldn’t buy it”. Political historian Peter Hennessy has explained that this opposition reflected both the workers’ concerns that they would lose control of the just-newly nationalised heavy industries, but also how those same men had fought across Europe just a decade before as the Durham Light Infantry, and would be loath to share any form of power or sovereignty with their former foes.

More than half a century later, these old suspicions and enmities have dwindled but Labour has remained restricted by a parochial Weltanschauung. Tony Blair promised in 1997 to put Britain “at the heart of Europe” but rapidly found himself constrained first by New Labour’s timidity towards the tabloid press (remember The Sun’s headline describing then-German finance minister Oskar Lafontaine as “the most dangerous man in Europe” over tax harmonization proposals?), and then by the toxic fallout from the Iraq War and Donald Rumsfeld’s distinctions between “Old” and “New” Europe.

Partly as a result of his closeness with George W. Bush, Blair became viewed with especial suspicion by the leaders of Labour’s fellow socialist and social democrat parties on the Continent. Relationships with the French Parti Socialiste were always tense because of Blair’s (understandable) efforts to develop a good relationship with President Chirac and indeed worsened when the Anglo-French ties soured over Iraq. The nadir was Blair’s (bilingual) YouTube message of congratulations to Nicolas Sarkozy upon his election in 2007 – which makes for even more uncomfortable viewing now than it did then, given the French President’s racist expulsion of Roma families and his mercurial arrogance.

Despite an initial good rapport with Germany’s Gerhard Schröder in the late 1990s and excited talk of a “neue Mitte” to accompany the Third Way, New Labour’s relationship with the Social Democrats also suffered from Iraq and the wider suspicion that Blair would always side with the US rather than Europe. And the close personal ties Blair forged with José Maria Aznar and Silvio Berlusconi (the holidays! the bandanas!) only served to strengthen suspicions amongst Labour’s European sister parties that he was never really “one of us” – which also explains the distinct lack of enthusiasm in this constituency for his ill-fated bid to become President of the new European Council last year.

Gordon Brown meanwhile had consciously cultivated a Eurosceptic reputation when Chancellor. Once Prime Minister, he became a belated convert to EU cooperation and coordination, particularly amid the financial crisis and Britain’s presidency of the G20, but he was also sadly not averse to occasional attempts at populist rhetoric. His infamous call for “British jobs for British workers” not only backfired domestically but also dismayed European observers and friends who saw it as yet another example of British insularity.

So Brother Ed has much to do to develop good relationships and ties with Labour’s natural allies in Europe. And this should indeed be a priority. In his inaugural speech he recalled both the humiliations of the Major government’s “beef war” with the EU in the mid-90s, and the far more serious and shaming failure of Europe to prevent genocide in Bosnia – forever encapsulated by the capitulation of the Dutch “peacekeepers” without a shot fired in Srebrenica in July 1995.

Britain can never again be on the sidelines, forever obstructing, carping and blocking – and Labour can never again reject and alienate its natural allies when the problems and challenges all progressives face transcend national borders and regulators. The turbulent events of the past few years have shown that despite being outside the eurozone, British economic and social prosperity remains dependent on effective cooperation and strategic coordination with our EU partners, whether on regulating immigration, tackling tax evasion or responding to the wider demands and dynamics of a globalised economy.

At the same time, and as was so eloquently argued here last week, social democracy and the whole European centre-left is in electoral crisis. The SPD is out of office and under pressure from the Greens. Sweden’s Social Democrats remain in opposition as the far-right makes gains. The French PS is riven by internecine strife and risks squandering the talents of its two best-placed presidential hopefuls, Ségolène Royal and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, because of (a) institutionalized sexism, and (b) suspicion that DSK’s tenure as head of the IMF has made him too “Anglo-Saxon”. The Italian left in all its various hues cannot even land convincing blows against Berlusconi in his dotage and has effectively ceded the main opposition role to his former ally (and former Fascist) Gianfranco Fini of the Alleanza Nazionale.

In contrast, Labour’s own situation does not perhaps look quite so bad (up 10% in the polls since the election defeat) – but rather than taking this as an excuse for schadenfreude, it shows how pooling resources and trying to develop a joint strategy is a win-win option for the centre-left on both sides of the Channel.

The irony is of course that there is one Labour politician who is uniquely placed to influence this debate. Not former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, not former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, but Catherine Ashton, the EU’s new “foreign minister” or, to give her her full title, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In her unassuming way (and despite facing condescension, sexism and snobbery from many in Brussels), Ashton has been quietly establishing her reputation as an effective operator since taking up the job last December – most recently, by persuading Serbia to drop a case at the International Court of Justice regarding Kosovo’s declaration of independence, thus paving the way for further reconciliation and European integration in the Balkans. That so few people are aware of Ashton’s role and responsibilities speaks volumes about the narrow focus of British politics and journalism. But if Ed Miliband wants to make Labour’s voice heard again in Europe – and to use Europe as another means of skewering the Con Dems, she should be at the top of his “must call” list. Our Euro-vision must never again get lost in translation.

William French is a Labour member and former foreign correspondent.