'Whigs' against the EU
From Mr Adrian Hilton
Sir: Chris Patten CI am a Tory to my toes', 7 June) makes much of his 'deepest loyalty' to the institutions of the United Kingdom, but fails to reconcile what is. ultimately, irreconcilable: precisely how democracy can be served by 'sharing decisions' with foreign governments over which the demos can have no ultimate kratos. He invokes his Catholicism, his enlightenment values and his morality to lend intellectual and spiritual force to his conviction, and therein belies his expressed loyalty.
While the Conservative party dominated 20th-century politics to become 'the natural party of government', its recent electoral self-destruction has its roots in 17thcentury religio-political disputes, in which the Whiggish tradition espoused Parliament over the Executive, the interests of small traders over concentrated wealth, liberty over the powers of state, and the toleration of non-conformists. 'Whig' was the term applied to those who attempted to block the accession to the throne of the Roman Catholic despot James II. The underlying issue was whether Britain should be ruled by Parliament, or by the King under the Pope of Rome. Yesterday's Whigs favoured Parliament against an autocratic king; today's Whigs favour Parliament against the oligarchic European Commission. Even benign despotism infringes the sovereignty of Parliament. It is instinctive for Conservatives of the Whig tradition to oppose any kind of unaccountable centralised power-base.
Like the Vatican, the European Commission is cloaked in secrecy, unaccountable, and ultimately believes itself to be infallible. In an era where openness, accountability, devolution and freedom of information are mantras. it is strange that the United Kingdom is being sucked into the antitheses of secrecy, bureaucratic unaccountability, centralisation and control. Such is the working of the European Union's oligarchy, and such is the working of the Vatican's theocracy. Chris Patten may be 'a Tory to [his] toes' but, thankfully, there are still some Conservatives of the Whig tradition who constitute the real backbone of the party, and remain true to their instincts even when the zeitgeist demands otherwise.
Adrian Hilton Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
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