Politics - Bismarck's art of the possible

Out of interest, Neil McGowan, have you ever stood for election yourself?

Good morning to you all! 'The Times' leads this weekend with some editorial comment to keep calm and carry on: the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats need to stop squabbling and recommit to making government work. David Cameron got into trouble for quoting the late Michael Winner at Angela Eagle in the House of Commons. But the advice he offered then might be better applied now to his own party. After a fractious week of whispered conversations, suggestions of incipient plots against the Prime Minister and demands for a new suite of economic policies after defeat in the Eastleigh by-election, Mr Cameron would be well advised to tell his party to calm down. Nick Clegg might do well to issue the same command to his own party as they gather this weekend in Brighton for their spring conference.



Writing in 'FT Weekend', George Parker interviews Nigel Farage. For David Cameron and Britain’s other mainstream politicians, Ukip’s maverick leader now poses a clear and present danger. Is it time to take him seriously? On election day May 6 2010, a man in a pinstriped suit boarded a light aircraft at Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire. Trailing on the dewy grass was a banner bearing a forlorn last-minute appeal: “Vote for Your Country – Vote UKIP.” Hardly anyone bothered to turn up. While the world focused on a grey-faced Gordon Brown’s desperate fight to cling to power and on David Cameron confidently preparing for Downing St, the plane began its ascent over the English countryside. Within minutes, it was clear something was badly wrong: the banner was wrapped around the aircraft’s tail and rudder. Nigel Farage’s relentlessly upbeat demeanour suddenly changes. “I thought: this is probably it,” he says. What does he remember? “The noise. The noise of the nose hitting the ground. Bang! I can still hear that.” His voice cracks.

This is Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, as you never see him. The heavy-smoking, beer-drinking maverick – scourge of Brussels and terror of Britain’s political elite – is a man lodged in the public consciousness as a jovial insurgent, dispensing barroom wisdom with remorseless good cheer. But there is another side to Farage. The man pulled from the wreckage emerged with a new-found purpose. Behind the jokey façade is a man with a deadly serious intent: to smash open the British political system and lead the UK out of the European Union (EU). Will he succeed, Neil McGowan?

I suppose that the interesting question is not so much whether UKIP becomes a mainstream political party, but what effect Nigel Farage will have on the Conservative Party. U kip if you want to; kleines c is not for kipping! Most Conservatives are eurosceptic, by nature, so it is quite possible that we shall see a referendum on Europe in the next Parliament (2015-20).

Furthermore, I suspect that the Scots will vote for independence next year, so the United Kingdom (UK), in its present form, is likely to come to an end around 13:00 (GMT) on Sunday 6 March 2016. You probably have paternal Scottish ancestry, Neil, with a name like McGowan. Think of it! You will finally be independent of Sydney Grew and kleines c. Cheers, all (breakfast coffee)!

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your life as a Russian, Neil McGowan! For the record, I hope to retain my British passport (and nationality) until Doomsday! Of course, kleines c is not only a subject of Her Majesty the Queen! I am a citizen of the European Union (EU) as well! Britain will always be part of Europe, Sydney Grew, whether it belongs to the European Union (EU) or not. If truth be told, I would rather belong to the world than to the EU.

I impeach the European Union in the name of the people of Europe, whose fundamental freedoms have been subordinated to economic idiocy. I impeach the European Union in the name of the peninsula and islands of Europe, whose lands have been turned into a wasteland.

Lastly, in the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach the European Union for the failure of human imagination, the failure of human possibility and the failure of human will!

In a historical sense, Britain has arguably acted as the fifty-first state of the United States of America (USA) since 1945. Of course, if the twentieth century became the American century, Sydney Grew, the twenty-first century is looking increasingly Asian, and particularly Chinese.

I still think that so long as the United States of America (USA) remains relatively strong, Neil McGowan, the gradual integration of Europe will continue and NATO will be preserved. As for Russia, I would like to see it better integrated into both Europe and Asia. You, too?

You never know, Neil McGowan. Eastern Europe might one day form a new (Soviet or non-Soviet) Union! The Hanseatic League presents an interesting historical model for development in Northern Europe, which could be pursued during the terrible 'teens of the twenty-first century. The Hanseatic League was originally a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. It stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period (c. 13th–17th centuries).

The League was created to protect economic interests and diplomatic privileges in the cities and countries and along the trade routes the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own legal system and furnished their own armies for mutual protection and aid. Despite this, the organisation was not a city-state, nor can it be called a confederation of city-states; only a very small number of the cities within the league enjoyed autonomy and liberties comparable to those of a free imperial city.

The fluid structure of the Hanseatic League is replicated in Scandinavian crowns and British pounds, Sydney Grew. The league is poised to re-establish itself, as Club Med collapses under the weight of excessive debt. Super Mario marks time in Frankfurt, wearing some latter-day emperor's new clothes. To the north, the Hansas forge a new future for Europe in the twenty-first century, Neil McGowan?