John Redwood

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Speech to the Bruges Group

Speaking to the Bruges Group in Bournemouth, John Redwood said:

"Iain Duncan Smith has shown over the last year that we Conservatives areinterested in many issues besides Europe. He was right to do so. We havealways been a great national party, with views on all the main issues. Werecognise that what matters to people most are those things that affecttheir daily lives: schools, hospitals, transport and law and order and wehave plenty to say about them.

"Now we need to remind our core supporters that we have not forgotten theirconcern with the way our democracy is being replaced by European bureaucracyin so many areas. It is now our duty, as a broad-minded national party thataspires to govern, to explain why Europe matters in our daily lives and ourcontemporary pre-occupations.

"Europe is no longer one subject among many. It's not a specialist subjectfor political junkies. It's too central to everything else to leave it to acouple of dedicated bands of Eurosceptics and Euro-enthusiasts.

"My constituents have in recent months been very concerned about worldpoverty and the response of the West to the conference on global developmentand the environment. They are right to be concerned.

"Most agree, whatever their party political position, that the West can andshould open its agricultural markets more fully to the products of thepoorer countries of the globe. They are agricultural societies that need ourmarkets more than our charity. The answer to this need lies in reform of theCommon Agricultural Policy. It requires negotiation and agreement inBrussels. It is not something we can do for ourselves in our own democracy.

"My constituents have been agitated by the very poor public transportsystems in the UK. They need to know that solutions require the UK to liveunder European law on railway safety and organisation. Our main schemes haveto be notified to Brussels to help their policy of Trans European networks.

"My constituents are worried about whether we will go to war with Iraq. Theywould like a UN solution, and are perplexed by the disagreement betweenFrance and the UK, both members of the EU and of the Security Council, overhow to proceed. They would, on balance, like to keep control over our ownforeign policy and not strengthen the Common Foreign and Security Policy ofthe EU. But they would also like us to have more influence with France atthis crucial time, so we could reach a common accord quickly through the UN.

"My constituents are alarmed by the huge increase in business regulation, ata time when it is becoming more and more difficult to run a profitablebusiness for a variety of reasons. They know that much of that regulationcomes from Brussels. It is not in any party's power in the UK to reverse itwithout the agreement of many other states.

"Sometimes when I have to write to a constituent to explain that the UK hasno power to act alone to tackle the problem they face, the constituentwrites back an offended letter, asking how it can be so.

"Now that the Conservative Opposition have shown that we understand theproblems facing the country in public services, it is time to highlight howBrussels is very much part of the story. To show how so many of theeveryday issues that people want their government to tackle are directlyaffected by EU laws and directives. We need to convince people to stifletheir yawns and give them the background to the big constitutional debatenow underway, so they can understand its significance to their daily lives.

"The issue is simple. Do we want more areas of our daily lives where therecan be no British democratic solution - as with farming and fishing? Or dowe want to hold the line, so we can still decide for ourselves whether to goto war, what interest rates to charge on our mortgages, and what sentencesto impose for various misdemeanours?

"In many cases, it is not a question of whether the British government ofthe day wants to change the law but whether they are able. The Labourgovernment shies away from this debate because they know they cannot win it.The Conservatives have a duty to explain the realities to the electorate - aduty to provide substance not spin, reality not rhetoric. It is an argumentwe can and must win."