Reduce Britons to Servitude

MEP Daniel Hannan has an excellent piece in the Telegraph today, concerning the clash between Michael Howard and the EU over immigration.

The penny is finally dropping. Thirty-two years after we joined, we are at last waking up to the nature of our subjection before Brussels. It was always going to take a big issue to jolt us from our narcolepsy, and immigration is that issue.

As I said yesterday, the story is about EU control, not immigration, despite protests in the Guardian to the contrary. The previous topic of fishing rights failed to hit a chord with the public. By choosing such a contentious topic, the EU reaction was guaranteed.

Mr Hannan describes a four point integration strategy:

Euro-integrationists pursue a well-tried four-stage strategy.

1. Stage One is mock-incredulity: "No one is proposing any such thing. It just shows what loons these sceptics are that they could even imagine it."
2. Stage Two is bravado: "Well all right, it's being proposed, but don't worry: we have a veto and we'll use it."
3. Stage Three is denial: "Look, we may have signed this, but it doesn't really mean what the critics are claiming."
4. Stage Four is resignation: "No point complaining now, old man: it's all been agreed."

This is exactly the path followed by the constitution, only this time we get to have a say. Unless we kick the whole project into touch, the slow and steady integration machine will ensure that the job is finished, whatever we say or do.