From Mr John Crookshank Sir: Winston Churchill spoke about a
United Europe much earlier than 1946, as Andrew Roberts writes, and with his typical fervour and convictions. On 21 March 1943, in a BBC broadcast, he said, 'I believe myself to be what is called a good European and deem it a noble task to take part in reviving the fertile genius and in restoring the true greatness of Europe [to] achieve the largest common measure of the integrated life of Europe that is possible without destroying the individual characteristics and traditions of its many ancient and historic races.'
He said more in a similar vein in a speech to the House of Commons on 24 May 1944 — using in fact some of the same words as he used in his earlier broadcast. Churchill saw Britain and her empire, later Commonwealth, as one of the pillars of the world 'Temple of Peace', but I believe that he saw this country playing a more active role in Europe from 1945 onwards; he would certainly not have used such an unharmonious word as 'Eurosceptic', even if it had been coined in his lifetime.
John Crookshank
Emsworth, Hampshire
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