Britain/US split?

["Michael Keaney" <Michael.Keaney@xxxxxx>]

Penners

Way back on 25 May, Mark Jones wrote:

"Norman Tebbit seems to think, along with Margaret Thatcher, that
political
      salvation for the Tories lies in strengthening the 'Special
Relationship',
      and prioritising Britain's US connection over Brtiain's
relationship with
      Europe. But since it is the US itself which is pushing Britain
further into
      Europe, it's hard to see why Tebbit etc should be so stupid;
no-one in
      Washington, even among the Bush camp, is supporting the Thatcher
anti-EU
      line, are they? Since I don't believe Tebbit is stupid, one is
left again
      with the idea that this is a public sign of a real split within
the British
      ruling class, about really-different alternative futures."

There is no question that the punk Thatcherites are being dished from
the centre by the permanent government and its agents in the media. The
destruction of Michael Portillo's candidacy for the Tory leadership
suggests a wider remit to ensure the natural party of government status
of New Labour, as the British state gradually aligns itself towards
European integration, and a parallel reduction of ties with and
dependence on the US. The punk Thatcherite candidate for Tory
leadership, Iain Duncan Smith (protege of Norman Tebbit), has an
interesting travel diary in this regard.

>From Private Eye's HP Sauce column, No. 1034, 10-23 August 2001.

Although the great British public may not be taking much interest in the
Tory leadership election -- except for purposes of amusement -- the
contest is being observed very closely indeed by the Bush administration
and its hangers-on in right-wing American think-tanks.

The conservatives who now rule the roost in Washington make no secret of
their support for Iain Duncan Smith. He may be a little-known figure
over here, but he has become something of a hero to the American right,
and is a regular on the US conference circuit alongside hardliners such
as Benjamin Netanyahu and Richard "Prince of Darkness" Perle.

Last summer the American Enterprise Institute paid for him to attend the
"AEI World Forum 2000" in Beaver Creek, Colorado; in February this year
he spoke at a conference in Washington organised by the New Atlantic
Initiative on the theme: "Intractable Conflicts, How Democracies Deal
with Terrorists, and Other Challenges for the New Administration". His
travel and accommodation costs were paid by another right-wing think
tank, the Heritage Foundation.

It is no coincidence that Bush's hawkish defence secretary Donald
Rumsfeld had a meeting with Duncan Smith in Washington well before he
got round to seeing the actual British defence secretary, Geoff Hoon.
After his chat with Rumsfeld, Duncan Smith congratulated the new
administration on "waking up to the fact that what they have facing them
is not about military capability, but about politics. It defines itself
by being in opposition to America, and that is a matter of grave concern
here."

Duncan Smith's diatribes against the European Union have also made him
many friends across the Atlantic, and he was even invited to testify
before the House of Representatives committee on international relations
in 1999, and duly seized the chance to propose that Britain and America
must stand shoulder to shoulder against the wily, over-regulated,
welfare-dependent Europeans.

He has also shown a respectful interest in the campaign by conservative
US congressmen to persuade Britain that it would be better off in Nafta
than in the EU. And, during his four-day trip to Washington in February,
he argued passionately that European governments should all support
President Bush's loopy missile defence project.

Can an invitation to the White House be far behind?

=====

Michael Keaney
Mercuria Business School
Martinlaaksontie 36
01620 Vantaa
Finland

michael.keaney@xxxxxx