There were cheers and a rendition of the national anthem aboard the British Airways jumbo carrying Team GB and their Olympic medals as it touched down at Heathrow Airport yesterday. They were home; and it is unlikely that any of the athletes or the great gathering of friends, family and well-wishers who greeted them imagined they were anywhere else other than home.
We all know where our home is and as an island nation it is easy to see its perimeter and to wish to protect it. A belief in home and pride in one’s country is not narrow nationalism or jingoistic self-obsession, though such feelings can be recruited and twisted to fulfil dark and aggressive ideological ambitions.
Nation states necessarily exist within borders. Yet there are some who would rather they didn’t. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said on Monday that "borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians."
Jean-Claude Juncker still doesn't get it. Britons feel at home in Britain, not in the EU
Philip Johnston
23 August 2016
The Telegraph
Jean-Claude Juncker's vision of breaking down national boundaries didn't work out for past empires Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images
There were cheers and a rendition of the national anthem aboard the British Airways jumbo carrying Team GB and their Olympic medals as it touched down at Heathrow Airport yesterday. They were home; and it is unlikely that any of the athletes or the great gathering of friends, family and well-wishers who greeted them imagined they were anywhere else other than home.
We all know where our home is and as an island nation it is easy to see its perimeter and to wish to protect it. A belief in home and pride in one’s country is not narrow nationalism or jingoistic self-obsession, though such feelings can be recruited and twisted to fulfil dark and aggressive ideological ambitions.
Nation states necessarily exist within borders. Yet there are some who would rather they didn’t. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said on Monday that "borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians.”"
His remark was revealing. Had it been solely concerned with the failure of EU countries to help each other look after the migrants and refugees once again flooding into Europe, then Mr Juncker might be excused a momentary outburst of frustration. But in reality, he was questioning the very existence of the nation state.
He wants to break down national boundaries and the Commission to provide governance from the centre, benignly ruling over a wide range of submerged ethnic and national groups. That did not quite work out for Austro-Hungary or the Ottomans; but then history is no guide to the future.
For all that Mr Juncker derides borders, people are defined by them. Look at the Olympic medal table. The Commission issued a preposterous list combining the medals of all 28 member states to show that the European Union was top with 325 medals, followed by the US with 121 and China with 70.
If Mr Juncker really thinks that the British, French, German, Italian and all the other medal winners at Rio were competing on behalf of the EU then he has taken leave of his senses. How many winners wrapped themselves in the blue and gold flag of the EU to celebrate?
French boxing Gold medallist Tony Yoka wraps himself in the French flag at the Rio Olympics Credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP
Even if, for historical reasons, the Germans and the French feel more strongly about the European ideal than the British ever have, they still consider themselves to be German and French. Otherwise why bother having separate governments at all? They may have eradicated physical frontiers between their countries; but everyone knows where the borders are (although they have moved around in the past) and their people do not wish to see them completely erased.
But are their leaders listening? Monday’s meeting between Angela Merkel, François Hollande and Matteo Renzi to discuss how Europe should respond to the Brexit vote appears to have concluded that the answer is greater amalgamation and closer military cooperation. Make no mistake: had we voted to stay in on June 23, then the UK would have been expected to participate more enthusiastically in the EU’s integrationist projects. It is hard to see how we could have resisted for long.
To give Mr Juncker some due, it is true that the nation state is a recent construct in continental Europe; and even those of long standing like Great Britain did not exercise strong border controls until relatively recently. As AJP Taylor observed in his English History 1914-1945, before the Great War “a sensible, law-abiding Englishman … could live where he liked and as he liked. He could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport or any sort of official permission ... For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police.”
Before 1914 “a sensible, law-abiding Englishman …could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport" Credit: -/-
After 1918 everything changed. As empires crashed, the nation state was for many in continental Europe a liberating force before being overwhelmed by the twin evils of Nazism and Communism. British independence, on the other hand, has been won at considerable cost over the centuries. The thought that it would continue to be subsumed beneath the unaccountable structures of the EU was the reason many voted to leave and one that Mr Juncker and other European leaders still find hard to understand.
By dint of geography and history, we are different. Yet the post-referendum debate continues to be conducted almost entirely in economic terms – with whom will we trade, how will the City fare, will overseas investment dry up? For the British, EU membership has always been a judgment about how much independence was worth giving away in exchange for unquantifiable economic advantages. For Mr Juncker, it is principally a political project which is affronted by the continued existence of national borders.
Some academics believe that globalisation, ease of international travel and mass cross-boundary communications will result in the erosion of nation states. Yet arguably borders are more crucial than ever, not least in helping to protect those who are hardest hit by these rapid changes. Welfare states can only exist within national boundaries. While people will look after their own on the understanding that they, in turn, can rely on assistance when needed, they are not easily persuaded to help outsiders.
Despite the advance of globalisation, borders are arguably more important than ever in today's world Credit: -/Reuters
Moreover, the strictures of EU membership make it hard for states to seek commercial advantages in order to withstand the pressures of global competition. This week, the Swedish prime minister questioned the UK’s right to set lower corporation taxes to attract new business and suggested this should be a bargaining counter in the Brexit negotiations.
The great strength of the British nation state is that it is not exclusive and unwelcoming to foreigners even if borders are necessary to prevent it being overwhelmed. Belonging is not like the German concept of heimat; Britishness does not require that people are born in the United Kingdom – but it does expect them to subscribe to its values and respect its institutions.
That is why a runner called Mohammed born in Somalia (albeit to a British father) can be cheered to the rafters by his fellow Britons and embraced as one of their own along with all the other athletes who competed in Rio beneath the Union flag. Welcome home.
Jean-Claude Juncker still doesn't get it. Britons feel at home in Britain, not in the EU
We all know where our home is and as an island nation it is easy to see its perimeter and to wish to protect it. A belief in home and pride in one’s country is not narrow nationalism or jingoistic self-obsession, though such feelings can be recruited and twisted to fulfil dark and aggressive ideological ambitions.
Nation states necessarily exist within borders. Yet there are some who would rather they didn’t. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said on Monday that "borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians."
Jean-Claude Juncker still doesn't get it. Britons feel at home in Britain, not in the EU
Philip Johnston
23 August 2016
The Telegraph
Jean-Claude Juncker's vision of breaking down national boundaries didn't work out for past empires Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images
There were cheers and a rendition of the national anthem aboard the British Airways jumbo carrying Team GB and their Olympic medals as it touched down at Heathrow Airport yesterday. They were home; and it is unlikely that any of the athletes or the great gathering of friends, family and well-wishers who greeted them imagined they were anywhere else other than home.
We all know where our home is and as an island nation it is easy to see its perimeter and to wish to protect it. A belief in home and pride in one’s country is not narrow nationalism or jingoistic self-obsession, though such feelings can be recruited and twisted to fulfil dark and aggressive ideological ambitions.
Nation states necessarily exist within borders. Yet there are some who would rather they didn’t. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said on Monday that "borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians.”"
The triathlon gold and silver winning Brownlee brothers wrapped themselves in the Union Jack and Yorkshire flag in Rio
His remark was revealing. Had it been solely concerned with the failure of EU countries to help each other look after the migrants and refugees once again flooding into Europe, then Mr Juncker might be excused a momentary outburst of frustration. But in reality, he was questioning the very existence of the nation state.
He wants to break down national boundaries and the Commission to provide governance from the centre, benignly ruling over a wide range of submerged ethnic and national groups. That did not quite work out for Austro-Hungary or the Ottomans; but then history is no guide to the future.
For all that Mr Juncker derides borders, people are defined by them. Look at the Olympic medal table. The Commission issued a preposterous list combining the medals of all 28 member states to show that the European Union was top with 325 medals, followed by the US with 121 and China with 70.
If Mr Juncker really thinks that the British, French, German, Italian and all the other medal winners at Rio were competing on behalf of the EU then he has taken leave of his senses. How many winners wrapped themselves in the blue and gold flag of the EU to celebrate?
French boxing Gold medallist Tony Yoka wraps himself in the French flag at the Rio Olympics Credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP
Even if, for historical reasons, the Germans and the French feel more strongly about the European ideal than the British ever have, they still consider themselves to be German and French. Otherwise why bother having separate governments at all? They may have eradicated physical frontiers between their countries; but everyone knows where the borders are (although they have moved around in the past) and their people do not wish to see them completely erased.
But are their leaders listening? Monday’s meeting between Angela Merkel, François Hollande and Matteo Renzi to discuss how Europe should respond to the Brexit vote appears to have concluded that the answer is greater amalgamation and closer military cooperation. Make no mistake: had we voted to stay in on June 23, then the UK would have been expected to participate more enthusiastically in the EU’s integrationist projects. It is hard to see how we could have resisted for long.
To give Mr Juncker some due, it is true that the nation state is a recent construct in continental Europe; and even those of long standing like Great Britain did not exercise strong border controls until relatively recently. As AJP Taylor observed in his English History 1914-1945, before the Great War “a sensible, law-abiding Englishman … could live where he liked and as he liked. He could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport or any sort of official permission ... For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police.”
Before 1914 “a sensible, law-abiding Englishman …could travel abroad or leave his country forever without a passport" Credit: -/-
After 1918 everything changed. As empires crashed, the nation state was for many in continental Europe a liberating force before being overwhelmed by the twin evils of Nazism and Communism. British independence, on the other hand, has been won at considerable cost over the centuries. The thought that it would continue to be subsumed beneath the unaccountable structures of the EU was the reason many voted to leave and one that Mr Juncker and other European leaders still find hard to understand.
By dint of geography and history, we are different. Yet the post-referendum debate continues to be conducted almost entirely in economic terms – with whom will we trade, how will the City fare, will overseas investment dry up? For the British, EU membership has always been a judgment about how much independence was worth giving away in exchange for unquantifiable economic advantages. For Mr Juncker, it is principally a political project which is affronted by the continued existence of national borders.
Some academics believe that globalisation, ease of international travel and mass cross-boundary communications will result in the erosion of nation states. Yet arguably borders are more crucial than ever, not least in helping to protect those who are hardest hit by these rapid changes. Welfare states can only exist within national boundaries. While people will look after their own on the understanding that they, in turn, can rely on assistance when needed, they are not easily persuaded to help outsiders.
Despite the advance of globalisation, borders are arguably more important than ever in today's world Credit: -/Reuters
Moreover, the strictures of EU membership make it hard for states to seek commercial advantages in order to withstand the pressures of global competition. This week, the Swedish prime minister questioned the UK’s right to set lower corporation taxes to attract new business and suggested this should be a bargaining counter in the Brexit negotiations.
The great strength of the British nation state is that it is not exclusive and unwelcoming to foreigners even if borders are necessary to prevent it being overwhelmed. Belonging is not like the German concept of heimat; Britishness does not require that people are born in the United Kingdom – but it does expect them to subscribe to its values and respect its institutions.
That is why a runner called Mohammed born in Somalia (albeit to a British father) can be cheered to the rafters by his fellow Britons and embraced as one of their own along with all the other athletes who competed in Rio beneath the Union flag. Welcome home.
Jean-Claude Juncker still doesn't get it. Britons feel at home in Britain, not in the EU
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