British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was expected yesterday to fight back at suggestions that the Hutton inquiry into the death of a government scientist has derailed Prime Minister Tony Blair's hopes of joining the single currency, with a speech stressing the Labour government's commitment to Europe.
As his Cabinet colleague and Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon prepares to give evidence to Lord Hutton, Straw will launch an assault on the opposition Conservatives as a party that "views hostility to the EU as an act of ideological faith" and that has a "dogmatic hatred" of the union.
He will cast scorn on Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith's Euroskepticism, following a speech in Prague in which the Conservative leader, using language reminiscent of US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, urged members of "New Europe" to oppose the Franco-German axis of "Old Europe."
But he is not expected to go so far as indicating when the government's euro roadshow -- designed to win over support for entry into the single currency -- will get going.
Blair had been hoping to start the campaign for a referendum shortly after Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced in June that the government was keeping open the door to British membership, even though the five tests had not been met.
But, within days, Downing Street was engulfed by its row with the BBC, which has since dominated the news agenda.
Straw, speaking in one of a series of ministerial speeches setting out just how far the government believes the Conservatives have lurched to the right, was to say: "The dogmatic hatred of the European Union within the Tory party is both deep and visceral. Pro-Europeans like Chris Patten, Douglas Hurd and Kenneth Clarke are marginalized, even ridiculed, by a new majority which views hostility to the EU as an act of ideological faith."
"At its heart, this flawed ideology represents a profound lack of confidence in Britain and what our country stands for. Fundamentally, it would represent a raw deal for Britain and set this country on a profoundly damaging course which would be catastrophic for British jobs and British prestige," he was expected to say.
Straw was to set out Labour's commitment to the EU and the benefits of enlargement. But the speech was designed as a sharp political attack on the Tories, and will offer no reassurance about whether a referendum will be held before the next election.
That scenario -- favored by Blair -- is now looking increasingly unlikely, with the government already facing battles on reorganizing hospitals and student tuition fees, as well as Lord Hutton's report on events leading to the death of David Kelly, the British expert on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The assumption that a referendum will not take place in the near future was given weight on Tuesday by Simon Buckby, the director of Britain in Europe, when he indicated he was likely to resign in the near future.
"I have been in Britain in Europe for four years and it might be time for other people to take that responsibility," he said.
RSS