How Gordon sees the world

Mark Leonard

23 August 2006

Mark Leonard, an authority on Labour foreign policy with strong connections to the government, has spoken to those close to the Chancellor in search of Brown’s notoriously opaque views on international affairs. This is what he discovered

Paradoxically, Brown might find it easier to build political relationships across the Channel than across the Atlantic. Much has been made of his doubts about the euro, his frustration with the ‘Ecofin’ meetings of European finance ministers, his opposition to the agricultural protectionism and restrictive practices of what he refers to as ‘trade bloc Europe’. One Labour adviser even suggests that his Euroscepticism has cultural roots: ‘He doesn’t read European novels or listen to Beethoven. His reference points are American and Scottish.’

But Brown is above all a practical politician. With the European constitution in remission and the euro off the political agenda in this country, he is unlikely to have to slay any European dragons in his first few months. As well as Britain’s economic interest in reforming Europe’s economy, there are compelling political reasons for Brown to emphasise Europe’s importance. David Cameron’s pledge to withdraw Conservative MEPs from the centre-right European People’s Party laid him open to attacks about taking Britain to the sidelines, and not being a credible prime minister in waiting.

It is no coincidence that Brown was quick to strike up a relationship with Angela Merkel (who, to his delight, welcomed him to the Chancellery in Berlin, while denying an audience to Cameron). By the time Brown becomes prime minister there will also be a new President in France — either Nicolas Sarkozy or Segolene Royal — who both speak Brown’s language on ‘reform’. These ambitious new leaders are very compatible with Brown. Unlike François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl, they are soft nationalists who are pragmatic in their engagement with the European Union, and more interested in domestic reform than European federalism — much like Gordon Brown himself.