Airstrip One

Dum Frum

David Frum beats the Anglospheric drum. Britain doesn't need to be a province of Europe ... when it can be a satrapy of America.

Now I agree with the first part of that analysis. However the peak of our geopolitical ambition should not be the membership of a better and easier to talk to imperium. I can see an Anglo-American alliance as a stepping stone to independence, but we have to recognise that we have different interests from the Americans. Northern Ireland for instance, we face an enemy that sooner or later will be blowing up our kids again and the American administration faces a bit of difficulty when it comes to raising campaign contributions from fourth generation Irish millionaires.

On another issue David Frum says that "Britain doesn't need the EU to be powerful." Well actually an American alliance doesn't need the EU to be powerful, but Britain could actually use a counterweight on the Continent, even if it is not in Britain's interests to belong to that counterweight. It is simply the difference between saying that Britain benefited from a strong Austria, without any burning desire to have a Hapsburg on the throne. Either David Frum doesn't understand the balance of power or his idea of Britain's interest does not look at Britain as an independent country, but as an American sattelite.

In the end the Telegraph will prove as useful in the fight for British independence as the Guardian.