Fitting that Britain and France are leading efforts on keeping the Strait of Hormuz open - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: James Bovington, Church Grove, Horsforth, Leeds.
It’s fitting that Europe’s two leading military powers, the United Kingdom and France, are positioning themselves to lead international efforts to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz is kept open (The Yorkshire Post, April 14).
The truth is that military co-operation between our two countries has thrived since we first found ourselves on the same side in the Crimean War of 170 years ago and is now deep. There was a flashpoint at Fashoda in East Africa in 1898, but this was sorted out amicably.
The UK and France have much in common. Many still think of the centuries of war between the two nations but these wars were mostly essentially dynastic territorial claims rather than a mistrust between the two peoples.
France is our major ally. We have a shared history, a common culture, similar views about freedom and although English and French have diverged, our languages share so many common roots.
The same is true of France and Germany who now enjoy the closest of relationships as Europe’s ancient Carolingian core has re-asserted itself. The structure of English is Germanic.
I’m making the point that the UK enjoys so much in common with these nearest of neighbours that we should work ever more closely with them. Ever closer union. Why not?
That means restoring freedom of movement so that young people can enjoy the life enhancing opportunities it offers. It means a national debate on how to rejoin the EU in stages. It means building a European Defence Union to take responsibility for the defence of our continent. It means freedom from the electoral vagaries of voters in Virginia.
Britain’s history makes it the most European of countries. It’s time to renounce for good the Brexit fantasy of HMS Britannia finding ports elsewhere at the expense of what is on our doorstep. It’s time to fully embrace the European project.
How I’ll rejoice when the UK returns to the EU and we’re using euros on eBay and avoiding those self-inflicted passport queues, maybe with direct trains from Leeds to Lille. Maybe Brexit won’t have been such a bad thing after all. Just kidding!