Brussels magnifico Chris Patten has been giving his views to the Independent. For arrogance, condescension and intellectual dishonesty it is equaled only by, well, some of his previous public declarations. Readers are told, yet again, that he’s in favor of the draft EU ‘constitution’ (although his description of that document has little relationship to reality) and the EU’s disastrous fisheries policies (that have emptied out the North Sea). He sneers that the Tory party’s move to the right has not brought it electoral success without, um, mentioning that he himself was rejected by voters in 1992 at the time of a general election that the Tories actually won. Most interesting, perhaps, is his characterization of UKIP, Britain’s anti-EU party, as representing “a particularly unattractive, blazered, xenophobia. They live in a fantasy world of conspiracies against gallant Blighty, white cliffs, Dambusters, Panzer helmets, a world in which every foreigner is a threat, a world which is totally at variance with the one in which we have to earn our living and keep the peace.” Now, I’m no fan of UKIP, but to describe them in that way is the mark of a politician who no longer knows what is going on, a politician, moreover, who, quite clearly, has lost all pride in his nation’s history, and who has had his snout for far, far too long in the Brussels trough.
Patten is entitled to his views, of course, however ludicrous they may be, but given the odd collection of treachery, europhilia and pure fantasy that make them up, why does he feel that he still belongs in the Conservative party. If he had any integrity he would leave.
Time to go, Chris.