Where's the splendour?
From Mr John Crookshank Sir: Observing Conrad Black ('Westward look, the land is bright', 15 July), Kenneth Clarke (Letters, 29 July) and other contem- porary worthies squabbling in the pages of The Spectator makes one realise how little the brave concept of 'Europe' has advanced since the era of the far-sighted statesmen who ushered it in.
As long ago as 21 March 1943, in a national radio broadcast Churchill could say, 'Anyone can see that this Council of Europe, or whatever it may be called, must eventually embrace the whole of Europe . . It is my earnest hope that we shall achieve the largest common measure of the integrated life of Europe that is possi- ble without destroying the individual char- acteristics and traditions of its many ancient and historic races. All this will, I believe, be found to harmonise with the high permanent interests of Britain, the United States and Russia.' He went on to talk about 'the mystery, the peril and the splendour of this vast sphere of practical action'.
Even allowing for the seductive majesty of Churchill's words, 57 years later we seem still to be faced with the mystery and the peril with no obvious sign of the splendour. John Crookshank
Emsworth, Hampshire
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