William Hague always knew the euro would go up in flames. But now he’s focused on the rescue operation
Politicians normally have to wait for history to vindicate them. For William Hague, vindication has come early. All his dire predictions about the dangers of the euro, so glibly mocked at the time, have come to pass. But as he makes clear when we meet in his study in the Foreign Office, he is not enjoying this moment. Rather, just days before the start of Tory conference, he is absorbed with trying to sort out the mess that others have created.
Leaning back in a red leather chair in what he boasts is ‘the grandest room in government’, Hague tells me: ‘It was folly to create this system, it will be written about for centuries as a kind of historical monument to collective folly. But it’s there and we have to deal with it.’
When I put it to him that Greece defaulting without devaluing — as the bailout plan apparently dictates — would be the worst of all worlds, he replies, ‘I described the euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it. But there are no exits.’ The metaphor is stark: those inside are going to die, or be seriously burned.
He quickly realises the implications of what he’s said and tries to tone it down: ‘You can have burning buildings where they manage to put out the fire or control it or get more room or something. I might take the analogy too far but the euro wasn’t built with exits so it is very difficult to leave it.’
To Hague’s mind, the eurozone countries face a set of unpalatable choices. He warns that ‘Greeks, or Italians or Portuguese have to accept some very big changes in what happens in their country, even bigger than if they weren’t in the euro, and Germans will have to accept that they are going to subsidise those countries for a long time to come really, for the rest of their lifetimes.’
When it comes to Britain’s own relationship with Europe, Hague is clear. ‘The EU does have too much power. I haven’t changed that view since being in government, in fact if anything, being in government has reinforced that view. There should be powers that are returned to this country. I think we should be clear in the Conservative party that that is where we are heading.’
But what is he actually going to do about it? If there were a new EU treaty before the next election, would the coalition push for the repatriation of powers? He replies that ‘the answer to any hypothetical question about what the coalition would do is: we’ll have to discuss it in coalition’. Considering that the Lib Dem he’d have to talk to is Danny Alexander, who lobbied hard to take Britain into the single currency, this is not an answer that is likely to reassure the Tory delegates gathering in Manchester next week.
He may say he sees our relationship with the EU as a problem, but Hague seems in no rush to fight for solutions — in coalition, at least. He is saving these arguments for the next election: he speculates that it could be ‘in 2015 one of the dividing lines between the coalition parties, put forward at the next election’.
Europe, though, is far from the limit of Hague’s brief. He is Foreign Secretary at a time when British troops remain on the ground in Afghanistan alongside the Americans and other Nato countries. But he’s cautious about assigning blame. He won’t repeat the recent claim (made by the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff) that the Pakistani intelligence service was involved in the attack on the US embassy and the HQ of the international forces in Kabul. ‘No, no, that is not something I would say.’ When I ask him if the remark was unhelpful, he simply replies, ‘in their congressional testimony they make their own decisions about what to say, but I’m not going to join in on that’.
Hague’s status as a former leader accords him a unique place in the Conservative party. As he coyly concedes, ‘I do fulfil a role of advising the Prime Minister more widely than on foreign policy.’ The photo that sits directly behind Hague shows him with Cameron and Osborne, his former speechwriter, relaxed and beaming triumphantly with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
He says that his advice is that the policies ‘to protect at all times are our education and welfare reforms and any changes to the tax system that will ultimately lay the foundation for a more productive economy’. When other plans have threatened that, he has ‘sometimes recommended’ modifying them. When I ask him if he means the health reforms, he chuckles and says, ‘Well, I’m not getting into details.’
In Hague’s view, the Conservatives are now a ‘fiscally conservative, socially liberal party’. He also thinks that it is a more Eurosceptic party than when he led it. But he stresses that this is in a ‘united way but not in any irrational way’. Indeed, Hague is very keen to point out the limits to Euroscepticism in the government. He tells me that no Cabinet colleague has ever told him that they favour either withdrawal or a radical renegotiation of Britain’s membership — a surprising statement, since several Tory ministers will happily say such things to journalists. ‘People are not running around jumping to extremes,’ he says, somewhat sniffily.
The Foreign Secretary also has advice for the new intake of Tory MPs, especially those who want instant promotion. ‘You need to build up your skills, and often the people who are first promoted to junior ministers are not the people who ten years later are cabinet ministers or leaders of the party. So people shouldn’t fret… they will find that in due course their talents are needed.’
What Hague will do next is one of Westminster’s favourite guessing games. But he is giving nothing away, stressing that his departure from politics will ‘come some distant day’. When I inquire if this is his last job in public service, he carefully replies, ‘Not necessarily.’ One senses, though, that when he is finished with politics, Britain might not see too much of Hague. He waxes lyrical about New York, saying that he finds it ‘the most exciting city in the world’.
When the interview ends, and Hague leaves for lunch with Osborne, he walks me to the door of his office, regaling me with tales of the Foreign Office’s history. I wouldn’t be altogether surprised if the department turned out to be the subject of his next book.
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