Sir: How right you are to point to the 'unre-
alistic and mendacious Eurosceptics' who claim that the Conservative election defeat was because the Conservatives were not Eurosceptic enough.
No political party in Britain has ever won an election on an anti-European ticket. Already in 1979, when Labour were fight- ing the first direct elections for the Euro- pean Parliament on a Eurosceptic ticket, the party lost dismally, losing to the Con- servatives even such traditionally Labour seats as Liverpool, and winning only 18 of the 81 seats on offer.
Similarly, when in 1989 and 1994 the Conservatives decided to fight the Euro- pean elections on an anti-European policy, they were heavily defeated. They now hold only 19 of the 87 UK Euroconstituencies.
The 1997 general election confirms this trend. Most electors, as I found when I was a Conservative candidate for Parliament, have gut common sense. They may not like Europe, but they know that there is no alternative for Britain. They do not want an isolationist Britain. So they will not support any candidate who is clearly against Europe or at least heavily sceptical about it. But they will support candidates who are sensi- ble and want Britain to play a constructive and leading part in Europe.
Britain should be one of Europe's lead- ers, ensuring that Europe not only brings peace and prosperity to all Europeans but also that it plays a positive and humane role in the world. If the Conservative MPs were to elect a new leader who did not see this, the party would remain consigned to oppo- sition for years.
John Szemerey
76 Mamixlaan, Overijse, Belgium
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