But this has been true of the whole question of Britain's relationship to Europe ever since the drive towards integration took shape in 1950. The advocates of Britain's participation in this process have never been frank with the electorate. Either they deceived themselves about the project or, being aware of the truth, have played it down for fear of alienating voters. Tony Blair is only the latest politician to find himself in this unhappy position. Joining the single currency would mean an abandonment of the sovereignty on which our State's independence rests.
Sovereignty is more than just a constitutional abstraction.
It is the right of the people to order their affairs as they wish. But, in the interests of advancing integration, its advocates have sought to obscure this reality. For sovereignty pooled is sovereignty forsaken. This Government's decision to bring about the entry of Britain into the single currency seems to ignore the fact that continental statesmen have a different set of objectives from those hitherto asserted by British Governments, of whatever political complexion. At the heart of the arguments put forward by the Prime Minister and his associates there is a basic intellectual flaw.