Tag: People of Northern Ireland

Real national interest prompts EU27 to protect UK as it grapples with Brexit During my posting as ambassador in London, I regularly attended the main party conferences. It is perhaps to be expected at a party conference. In general, those who sloganise about putting their “country first” propose a very simple and narrow view of national interest. They propagate the dangerous lie that there are simple answers to difficult questions. The political recipe recommended by self-proclaimed patriots has less to do with the real interests of their own people than with dismissing the interests of others People who take a different approach disagree, sometimes fundamentally, about how exactly national interests should be pursued. However, they recognise that to advance one’s country’s interests one must first understand and respect the interests of others. I believe that Theresa May understands better than many in her party that national interests require arming oneself with arguments rather than wrapping oneself in flags. That means taking appropriate account of Britain’s interests even as Britain itself is struggling, intellectually and politically, to identify what its interests are. Both sides in the Brexit negotiations should be guided by the principle, on which the EU itself is founded, that putting one’s country first requires not the trumpeting of narrow national interest but rather a generosity of spirit towards the interests of others. That will be easier once the Tory Party conference is out of the way.