John O’Sullivan has for some time now expounded the view that the British Conservative Party leadership thinks it is living in the world of Hugh Grant romantic comedy – dubbed “Curtisland” after those movies’ writer, Richard Curtis. Now Rachel Sylvester confirms this in the Telegraph today:

Britain, he will say, should be far more independent of America – and more willing to condemn aberrations such as Guantanamo Bay. In Mr Cameron’s view, the special relationship needs to be rebalanced; Mrs Thatcher was never afraid to have a row with Ronald Reagan and made sure everybody knew about it. As one aide put it to me: “We want lots of Love Actually moments.” It is telling that the Conservatives have invited John McCain, the Republican presidential hopeful, who has crossed swords with Mr Bush over everything from Iraq to climate change, to address their party conference next month. [Emphasis added]

For those who haven’t seen the movie, the Love Actually moment is as follows. The British Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, is holding a joint press conference with the American President, played by Billy Bob Thornton. The President is a Clintonian philanderer, who has made a pass at the PM’s tea lady, a pretty young thing whom the single PM is developing feelings for. This leads to the following exchange:

Press Conference Reporter: Mr. President, has it been a good visit?
The President: Very satisfactory indeed. We got what we came for and our special relationship is still very special.
Press Conference Reporter: Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: I love that word “relationship”. Covers all manner of sins, doesn’t it? I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to, erm… Britain. We may be a small country but we’re a great one, too. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham’s right foot. David Beckham’s left foot, come to that. And a friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward, I will be prepared to be much stronger. And the President should be prepared for that.

Wretched, isn’t it? Yet this somehow appeals to a certain segment of British conservatism, and the Cameron leadership appears to be playing to that segment.We’re seeing an example at the moment, as David Cameron is touring India and is talking about a new special relationship with that great democracy. Now a strong Anglo-Indian alliance would be a good thing for the world, and for the US especially I think, so on the face of it this is a splendid policy stance. There are two problems, however, that makes one wonder about the real intent. First, the EU controls so much of British foreign affairs these days, most especially in trade policy, that, in a Cameron Ministry, Britain and India will find it difficult to conclude much meaningful dialogue without a re-examination of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Second, the use of the phrase “special relationship” in this context will be recognized as a distancing from America, and his spin doctors will have used the phrase with exactly that in mind.

If David Cameron seriously thinks he has to break not just with Margaret Thatcher (as seen in his worryingly ill-informed remarks about her South African policy), but with Winston Churchill, whose final advice to his Cabinet in 1955 was, “Never allow yourselves to be separated from the Americans,” he owes it to his country to have a better reason than mere electoral calculus. At least it isn’t motivated by feelings for a tea lady.

One hopes.