Von der Leyen’s The eerie growth Responding to David Cameron Venice is no city challenges in ECB power populism chillaxing in decline Ursula von der Leyen arrives in office The increasingly assertive decisions of Advocates for small government should Britain’s former Prime Minister is a man Venice is strained - groaning under with Europe in a state of disarray - Europe’s central bankers are a threat to begin by recognising the limits of their scarred by defeat in the Brexit referendum, the weight of tourism and vulnerable will the new Commission President democracy - decisions on monetary policy popularity, but they can achieve a great deal but in his new memoir he is far too hard on to rising tides. But there’s a case for be up to the challenge? should be returned to EU member states. as part of a broader conservative alliance. himself about the consequences. optimism over the city’s future. Walter Ellis p.3 Bernd Lucke MEP p.8 Daniel Hannan MEP p.13 Iain Martin p.14 Finn McRedmond p.21

Issue #10 | October 2019

A fortnightly Newspaper by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party | theconservative.online BATTLE of Boris Andrew Gimson, the Tory leader’s biographer, on the man and his fight for survival p.4-5 Photo: Xander Heinl - Getty Images Heinl - Getty Xander Photo: 2 FEATURE theconservative.online theconservative.online FEATURE 3

CONTENTS Poland’s PiS will profit from Can Ursula von der Leyen save Poland’s PiS will profit from divided opposition - Gerald Warner, p.2

Can Ursula von der Leyen save the European project? - Walter Ellis, p.3 The fight of Boris’s life - Andrew Gimson, p.4-5 DIVIDED OPPOSITION THE EUROPEAN PROJECT? MEPs unite behind the ECR’s condemnation of totalitarian regimes - p.6 It is difficult to see how challengers to the PiS overturn by Walter Ellis Both sides want a deal and it’s time to get on with it - p.6 its majority at Poland’s forthcoming general election ECR Group nominates the Restorers for rsula von der Leyen, whose for the EU acquis. But unless the divide the Sakharov Prize 2019 - p.6 five-year term as President between East and West becomes clearly ECR Party - Training Academy of the European Commis- unbridgeable, Von der Leyen can be - by - Funchal, Madeira p.7 Gerald Warner sion begins on November expected to speak loudly while carrying The eerie growth in ECB power 1, is probably little different than her a little stick. Belgium’s Didier Reynders, - Bernd Lucke, p.8 U

predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker. Is Shutterstock.com Photo: has been asked to devise some means Trump in poll position for 2020 - Gerald Malone, p.9 she, aged 60, a little bit more interest- of suspending, or reducing, structural funds running into billions of euros for Downfall of Trudeau exposes the ing than the little Luxemburger? Prob- hypocrisy of woke politics - Ben Kelly, p.9 ably. Juncker began his five-year tenure those member states judged wilfully Time for European reform - p.10 promising further progress towards non-compliant with “the European a more integrated Europe. He leaves way of life”. Whether such a high- European conservatism needs to reclaim Shutterstock.com Photo: its identity - Gerald Warner, p.10-11 office as the man who got nothing done risk approach will be honoured in the EU ready for clash with Big Tech over on immigration and presided, literally, breach rather than the observance is an new digital tax - Maggie Pagano, p.12 over the chaotic departure of the EU’s open question. How should conservatives respond to second-richest state. Leading the charge on the ever-ac- the present age of populism? - Daniel Hannan MEP, p.13 The first woman to hold the presi- celerating digital revolution will be

A multitrack Europe is the best tonic dency and the first German since Wal- Margrethe Vestager, of Denmark, one to anti-EU sentiment - Ben Kelly, p.13 ter Hallstein more than half a century of the undoubted success stories of the Cameron chillaxing - Iain Martin, p.14 ago – Von der Leyen takes over with the Juncker years, remembered for impos- In search of Camilleri’s master detective European Project in a state of disarray. ing multi-billion-euro fines on mega Salvo Montalbano… - Robert Fox, p.15 There are many who wish to see corporations – mostly American – she Can Western culture survive without root-and-branch democratic reform, deemed to have engaged in industri- Christianity? - Marcus Walker, p.16 resulting in a more accountable Brus- al-scale tax avoidance. Vestager, one YouTube changed media forever and we are of two Spitzenkandaten Von der Leyen only just catching up - Charlotte Henry, p.16 sels machine and the restoration to the member states of powers that the Com- beat for the top job, will add digital

The Italians by Luigi Barzini - Toby Guise, p.17 mission has acquired, almost casually, affairs to her existing competition port- Ad Astra - Alexander Larman, p.18 over the years in defiance of the concept folio, as well as the shared job title of Pop’s last intellectuals the Pet Shop Boys of subsidiarity – the idea that power is executive vice president, making her have staying power - John McKie, p.18 best reposed where it is closest to those one of the most important officials in European immigrants made 18th century London capital of the world - Alex Colville, p.19 whom it affects. Sovereignty is the issue the whole of the European Union. oland’s parliamentary elec- leader of Civic Platform, Grzegorz here, with East versus West (and Italy Finally, the green elephant in the Greta Thunberg? Not a patch on child prodigy: Alma Deutscher - Gerald Malone, tions will be held on Sun- Schetyna, who labours under the hand- joined with the East) presenting the room. Von der Leyen has asked the p.20 day, 13 October. The stakes icap of being the least trusted politician most obvious line of battle. Dutchman Frans Timmermans, another Venice is no city in decline are high: for the ruling Law The European left has not previously in the country. The PiS, which is affili- But there are also those, led by of the defeated spitzenkandidaten, also - Finn McRedmond, p.21 Pand Justice Party (PiS) the objective ated to the ECR Group in the European the President of France, Emmanuel an executive vice president, to draw up Michelin starred spin-off restaurants – had to contend with the winning As good as the originals? - Bruce Palling, p.22 is to confirm its hold on government Parliament, has some ongoing disputes Macron, who, with no hint of irony, the EU’s “Green New Deal”. with EU officials, notably with regard use their national leverage to press for No one doubts that the public Variety is the spice of Italian wine in order to embed further the socially combination of social conservatism - Guy Chatfield, p.22 conservative but fiscally compassion- and social largesse that has become to its reforms of the Polish judiciary. movement towards a United States of throughout Europe, from Lisbon to Culture Digest - p.23 ate policies it has pursued since coming This issue dates back to the time of Europe, with “ministers” in Brussels, Tallin, has been aroused from its car- to power in 2015; for the left the chal- the agenda of the more populist General Jaruzelski, the communist a single tax regime, an expanded Euro- bon-induced slumber, and there is lenge is to return to a parliament from strongman in Poland and the most cun- pean budget and at least the beginnings hardly a single political party of con- which it was ousted by the 2015 vote political parties and it has no effective ning of the old Soviet satraps. Foresee- of an EU-wide defence capability. sequence, on the left or the right, that The Conservative is a fortnightly newspaper and try to end the PiS ascendancy. ing the fall of communism, he imposed Where does Von der Leyen stand on President’s ongo- former East Bloc does not accept the urgency of the available in print and online published and response. Neither do the economically owned by the ECR Party, formerly known as There are 460 seats in the Sejm, the the notorious Round Table forum on all of this? Critics like to say of her that ing tariff war with there will be some challenge. But if the new Commission Alliance of the Conservatives and Reformists Polish parliament, with 100 seats in the democratic opposition, one of its she has risen without trace, citing her China continues satisfaction that genuinely embraces a radical approach in Europe (ACRE). liberal parties whose fiscal agendas the Senate. Members of the Sejm are legacies being a judiciary manned by ill-starred tenure as German defence to pose a threat their concerns for a that starts on Day One and leads to a The Conservative can be read online at: elected by open party-list proportional exclude significantly expanding social Party hacks that remained self-perpet- minister – during which her country’s to European eco- Having left domestic concerns “Christian” Europe carbon-neutral environment within theconservative.online representation with seats allocated expenditure. uating in post-communist times. armed forces continued to rot – as her nomic stability. behind her, the new President will have at least been the next ten years, expect an indig- REPRODUCTION RIGHTS The Soviet Union has gone, but Rus- Just as pressing, acknowledged. nant response from industry and other All content and materials of under the d’Hondt system, with a 5 per only significant administrative expe- The Conservative are copyrighted, unless cent threshold for individual parties record turnout in Poland at this year’s But that option is not open to the sia remains and Poland regards it as a rience. They will have noted that one there is the nev- be watching anxiously as her team Immigration is interest groups across the continent. otherwise stated. For permission to republish and 8 per cent for coalitions. The Sen- EU elections of 45.6 per cent, making Polish opposition because PiS, as the dangerous neighbour. The PiS govern- of her first moves in charge was to add er-ending Italian not the only cri- Everybody wants a clean world. No articles appearing in The Conservative, please of commissioners face confirmation contact the Managing Editor: ate is elected on a first-past-the-post a comparison with a general election other half of its programme, has deliv- ment is keen to see the American mil- responsibility for defence and space banking crisis, ongo- sis blowing in from everyone is ready as yet to make the [email protected]. constituency system. less incongruous. PiS gained its highest ered widely-targeted social spending itary presence on Polish soil increased. programmes to the job description of ing uncertainty over hearings in Strasbourg, where the the East. The Viseg- sacrifices required. At this election the governing PiS is ever share of the vote at either a Euro- on a scale its opponents cannot cred- That is a popular security policy. The her choice as internal market com- the euro, the need rad four, and oth- Those who wonder where in all this in alliance with several small parties, pean or national election of 45 per cent ibly outbid. The European left has not economy, too, has performed well, with missioner, Sylvie Goulard, a former to maintain a close Parliament will be keen to show off its ers, have long felt there is time and space for democratic but they hold little sway in the coali- (compared with 32 per cent at the pre- previously had to contend with the GDP growth of 5.1 per cent last year and French defence minister, nominated by relationship with growing strength and centrality to the sidelined by Brus- reforms are unlikely to receive an tion. In opposition there are four main vious EU election). winning combination of social con- unemployment below 4 per cent. Macron. the City of London, sels, given the least answer anytime soon. Von der Leyen DISCLAIMER groupings: Polish Coalition (for Chris- The coalition of opposition parties servatism and social largesse that has Upcoming general elections is Does this mean that Von der Leyen as Europe’s banker, decision-making process. important Com- was born in Brussels and attended ECR Party, formerly known as Alliance of Conservatives & Reformists in Europe tian democracy, decentralization), The won 38 per cent of the vote, down from become the agenda of the more pop- regarded as an especially crucial con- sees herself as the Joan the Baptist of and the long-stand- mission jobs and the European School. Her father was (ACRE) is a Belgian EUPP No: 0820.208.739, Left, “Lewica” (socialist, progressive), 48 per cent in 2014. Those figures sug- ulist political parties and it has no test for Poland. If PiS is confirmed in a European Army? Quite possibly. She ing imbalance in prosperity between citizenship a prize for enterprise and treated by the Western member states a top Commission official, who incul- recognised and partially funded by the European Parliament. The views and opinions Civic Coalition (liberal) and the Con- gest the ruling PiS is maintaining its effective response. Neither do the eco- government it will continue to take the certainly said as much in the run-up North and South and East and West. determination rather than a response as if they were still on probation. To cated into his daughter the belief that a expressed in the publication are solely those nomically liberal parties whose fiscal country down a novel political path, Mass immigration bothers everyone, to human need. address this legitimate concern, the Pol- United Europe was not only desirable, of individual authors and should not be federation for Freedom and Indepen- advantage over opponents; the cur- to her appointment. But if precedent regarded as reflecting any official opinion or dence (right-libertarian, nationalist). rent opinion polls predict PiS and its agendas exclude significantly expand- radically different from that of western is anything to go by, no such Army will but in particular Italy, Greece, Spain and Hungary favours a very different ish Commissioner, Janusz Wojciech- but inevitable. If the existing system position of the ECR Party, formerly known as turns out to work to her advantage as Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in It says something about the moun- allies will gain 48 per cent of the vote. ing social expenditure. EU states but viewed sympathetically be ready to present arms much before the Visegrad quartet of Poland, Hun- approach. As far as Budapest is con- owski, has been handed the key role of Europe (ACRE), its leadership, members or tain the Left has to climb that its imme- Today electorates have become so vol- At the European elections PiS suc- in Hungary and the rest of the Visegrad 2050, if then. gary, Slovakia and the Czech Repub- cerned, the way forward is clear. The agriculture commissioner, presiding she tries to keep Europe on track within staff, or of the European Parliament. diate ambition is to return to the Sejm atile that no electoral upset can truly cessfully mobilized Poland’s socially bloc. Its ousting from power would sig- In the meantime, much else has to lic. There seems to be no end in sight. government doesn’t want Muslim over a budget running into the high bil- an increasingly aggressive world order, MANAGING EDITOR where it lost all its seats in 2015. In fact be called surprising anymore, but bar- conservative voters on issues such as nal a return to socially liberal, secular- be resolved. There is Brexit, of course. Juncker got nowhere with his proposal minorities moving into its territory and lions, while Hungary’s László Trócsányi, it would be naive to expect much that is Richard Milsom it is likely to return, since polls show the ring such an outcome PiS looks to be in rejecting adoption by same-sex cou- ist and fiscally austere policies. Aware that the intended departure of that a better policed external border be it is resolved to stem the tide with or a former justice minister, known to genuinely transformative. PRODUCTION new, broader Lewica coalition securing a favourable situation. ples, defending the position of the Although the PiS represents soft the UK from EU membership will be combined with a general acceptance of without help from Brussels. With this in be close to President Viktor Orbán, is Having left domestic concerns behind ( ) Reaction Publishing reaction.life around 14 per cent of the vote. Overall, For the opposition the dilemma is Church in society, resisting mass immi- euroscepticism it has shown no inclina- followed by a long and no doubt painful the need to absorb those immigrants – mind, it was striking that when Von der tasked with preparing for further EU her, the new President will be watch- DESIGN the latest opinion polls show PiS with that the government’s programme is gration and pledging to delay adoption tion to break with EU institutions, but set of negotiations covering its future many of them Muslims – already here or Leyen turned up in Brussels last week enlargement and maintaining good ing anxiously as her team of commis- VIDEOR o.d. (videor.ba) a commanding lead of around 20 per extraordinarily difficult to challenge. of the euro currency for an indefi- it does aspire to assert more control at relationship with the 27, she has rather who turn up in the years ahead. Italy and to announce her new team, she tasked relations with Europe’s near-neigh- sioners face confirmation hearings in CONTACT cent. In terms of actual votes cast, the One half of its appeal is support for nite period. Poland is one of the most national level. Whether it will emerge shrewdly appointed Phil Hogan, from Greece continue to bear the brunt, with the Greek Commissioner, Margaritas bours, including Turkey and Ukraine, as Strasbourg, where the Parliament will European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party nearest guide to voting intentions is social conservatism and the Catholic pro-EU member states, but its affec- victorious on 13 October to pursue its Ireland, as her trade commissioner. the former in particular feeling aban- Schinas, with responsibility not only for well as Serbia and other non-EU Balkan be keen to show off its growing strength Rue du Trone 4, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium provided by the results of the European Church, nationalism and opposition tion for the Union, from which it has distinctive course remains to be seen. Hogan, previously in charge of agricul- doned by its partners. Germany feels migration, integration and cross-bor- states. and centrality to the decision-making theconservative.online [email protected] Parliament elections last June. to immigration. That socially conser- derived large economic benefits, does The opposition’s main problem is that ture, is not only acutely aware of the it did its bit in 2015 when it admitted der security, but “the protection of our This is not to say that Brussels – not process. Getting her priorities in line it is ideologically at cross-purposes. European way of life”. only the Commission, but the Coun- so that she ends up with an agenda sup- INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS Obviously there is a huge health vative platform is one that the left has not extend to the single currency, about importance to his own country of a via- close to one million immigrants. Like Please address submissions and warning attached to any attempt at a traditionally and successfully over- which voters remain apprehensive. The current evidence would suggest a ble long-term deal with the British, he Austria and France, it has since more Such an emotive choice of words did cil and Parliament – does not wish to ported by all, or most, of the member letters to the Managing Editor: [email protected] read-over of EU election polling to a come in many countries by opposing to In personality terms, the PiS leader return to government by PiS, but pre- is also something of a table-thumper, or less closed its doors, taking in only not sit easily on the Left, and the like- bring the East Bloc onside on issues states as well as by a majority of MEPs is national general election. However, it a materialist agenda of prodigal wel- Jaroslaw Kaczynski is more popu- dictions can be high risk in the current ready, we are told, to push hard those who somehow manage to sidestep lihood is that a cosmetic change will such as free speech, the independence likely to be key to the success or failure that risk is slightly diminished by the fare and social expenditure. lar than his most prominent rival, the political climate. ■ against Donald Trump if the American border security – making asylum and be introduced to the title. But in the of the judiciary and, generally, respect of her mandate. ■ 4 FEATURE theconservative.online theconservative.online FEATURE 5

But his ability to enrage and disgust the puritans is in the eyes of many Brit- ish voters a reason to rally to Johnson’s side. They like his irreverence, his will- ON BEING TORY ingness to break the rules, his fearless- I’m a one-nation Tory. ness in the face of adversity. Photo: Pool - Getty Images - Getty Pool Photo: While writing this piece, I consulted ON VOTING CONSERVATIVE a shire Tory whom I have long found Voting Tory will cause your wife to to have an acute feel for wider public have bigger breasts and increase your opinion. She said she thought Johnson chances of owning a BMW M3. would get credit for possessing more ON WINNING THE “gumption” than either Jeremy Cor- LONDON MAYORAL RACE byn or Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson. Never in my life did I think I would Despite the setbacks, the Tory leader THE FIGHT be congratulated by Mick Jagger for looks a bolder and more energetic figure achieving anything. than either of them, performs in front of the cameras more frequently and enter- ON UKIP tainingly than they do, and unlike them I can hardly condemn UKIP as a is committed to fulfilling the referen- bunch of boss-eyed, foam-flecked of Boris’s life dum result by driving through Brexit. Euro hysterics, when I have been The Tory leader is in trouble. His biographer says Behind the flummery, he is trying to get sometimes not far short of boss-eyed, something done which needs doing. His don’t bet against him finding a way out foam-flecked hysteria myself. grasp of the big picture is correct. In the ON NIGEL FARAGE eyes of the public, Johnson could yet He’s a rather engaging geezer. come to be seen as the serious figure, by Andrew Gimson Corbyn and Swinson as lightweights. ON SEX It is possible, of course, to accept that I’ve slept with far fewer than 1,000. Johnson is a considerable performer, uritans cannot stand Boris public. Johnson after Oxford entered while also maintaining he is intolerably Johnson’s performances. To journalism, where he soon infuri- ON CANNABIS vulgar. According to this line of thought, them, the theatre of politics His ability to enrage and disgust his opponents is in the eyes ated the editor of the Times by mak- It was jolly nice. But apparently it he belongs in a pantomime rather than is flippant, sinful and should ing up a quote and airily suggesting all is very different these days. Much in power. And it is certainly true that Pbe closed down. The British Tory lead- of many British voters a reason to rally to Johnson’s side. the quotes in the paper were made up, stronger. I’ve become very illiberal much of what he does is not in the best er’s love of putting on a show, his desire and then – having been sacked from about it. I don’t want my kids possible taste, and he is cavalier with to bring a smile to our faces and insatia- They like his irreverence, his willingness to break the rules, that paper and made a second start on to take drugs. the details. ble urge to hold forth from centre stage, the Daily Telegraph – infuriated the But this will not necessarily work his fearlessness in the face of adversity. ON BEING OVERWEIGHT are proof, for these austere moralists, powers that be in Brussels by mocking against him in the end, as long as his Face it: it’s all your own fat fault. not just of a disgusting egotism but of an their pretensions, often in stories nei- overall strategy is sound. Because his ther they nor his rival correspondents aim of leaving the European Union on intolerable frivolity. They purse their ON EXAMS 31st lips, and trust this star will soon meet regarded as accurate. Exams work because they’re scary. October, deal or no deal, commands with the rejection he in their view so On returning to London, Johnson widespread approval, so do measures richly deserves. proceeded to make an even wider repu- AFTER BEING SACKED designed to help achieve this. Attempts Perhaps he will. Anything could hap- tation by his amusingly chaotic perfor- AS SHADOW ARTS MINISTER to derail his plan by picking holes in the pen this autumn. The inescapable duty mances on the BBC satirical show Have Nothing excites compassion, in friend detail may well produce a reaction in his of any party leader is to take the blame I Got News For You, a programme and foe alike, as much as the sight of favour. So may Corbyn’s evasions. you ker-splonked on the Tarmac with when things go wrong. But it seems to Images - Getty Bloomberg Photo: avoided by conventional careerists, for A young Remainer told me as I wrote your propeller buried six feet under. me, having written a biography of him it was subversive and flippant, and made this article that she preferred John- which first appeared in 2006 and which a point of ridiculing those politicians ON THE EU son when he was a buffoon who told was described by former Labour mayor who dared to appear on it, at least on First they make us pay in our taxes jokes. Now that he has become the per- of London Ken Livingstone as “the scar- their first appearance. To his fury, John- for Greek olive groves, many of which son dedicated to getting Brexit done on iest thing since Silence of the Lambs’, son himself was stitched up on his first probably don’t exist. Then they say 31st October she cannot stand him. But that Johnson’s puritan critics underes- appearance. But he recovered from this we can’t dip our bread in olive oil this too is a kind of tribute to his seri- timate his chances of success. setback, made it up with the presenters in restaurants. We didn’t join the Boris is crazily competitive, and convinced he is going to make ousness of purpose. His enemies fear he For he is not frivolous. No one in Brit- and became one of their most valued Common Market – betraying the it. But his way of going about this is rather unusual. Johnson’s means what he says, and are right to do ish politics is more determined to suc- guests. When asked why he appeared New Zealanders and their butter so. Johnson looks at ease on becoming ceed. If this were not so, he would long on such a light-weight programme, he – in order to be told when, where and instinct is to play to the widest possible audience, and to do so by Tory leader. The post of captain suits ago have limped away from the field of said the real shocker was “not that peo- how we must eat the olive oil we have him better than any subsidiary role battle. But when he went on BBC Des- ple are so foolish as to appear on TV, but been forced to subsidise. mocking the hierarchy. in the team. He shares with Benjamin ert Island Discs in 2005, and Sue Lawley that people are so idle as to watch it” – ON THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH Disraeli an ability to drive Gladstonian reminded him of his ex-mother-in-law’s an answer which indicated his underly- Too full of drugs, obesity, decided to leave politics and concen- Union. Johnson assailed the Ameri- the Prime Minister is what its holder prigs to distraction, and hence to make observation, “Boris is very ambitious ing seriousness. underachievement and Labour MPs. trate on his ever more lucrative media can leader. As so often, the details of chooses and is able to make of it.” them look mad. Here is an outsider who and always said he wanted to be Prime Both Johnson and Cameron entered career. He instead ran against Living- Johnson’s attack were neither accu- Johnson set out to prove the truth of recognises, as Disraeli wrote in one of Minister,” he replied, after beating the Commons in 2001, but while John- ON INEQUALITY stone for Mayor of London, a role which rate nor tasteful, but the general point this. He wanted to be a Prime Min- his most obscure novels, The Rise of about the bush for a moment or two: son ignored prudent advice and took No one can ignore the harshness no other Conservative anyone had – that it was outrageous of the Presi- ister who at least during the critical Iskander, that “Success is the child of “I suppose all politicians in the end are the risky course of also continuing full- of that competition, or the inequality heard of was prepared to take on, and dent to come over here and ask Britons phase of Brexit meets the voters with Audacity”. like kind of crazed wasps in a jam jar, blast with his journalism – he was by that it inevitably accentuates; and he won. For here was a popularity con- to go on tolerating sacrifices of national astonishing frequency. As a journalist, For that quotation I am indebted each individually convinced that they’re now editor of the Spectator – Cameron I am afraid that violent economic test in which Johnson’s ability to con- sovereignty which the United States he was astonishingly productive, and to a slim volume, The Sayings of Dis- going to make it.” positioned himself as a careful, cau- centrifuge is operating on human nect with the wider public, and refusal would never dream of accepting – was hoped to achieve by rate of fire what he raeli, edited by Robert Blake and soon beings who are already very far That describes him. He is crazily tious, reliable insider, quick to see the to kow-tow to his party leadership, were entirely justified. As a result of this epi- was unlikely to achieve by immaculate to be republished by Duckworth with from equal in raw ability, if not competitive, and convinced he is going attractions of modernisation in all its just what were needed. sode, the polls moved a few percentage craftsmanship. a foreword by Alistair Lexden. Dis- spiritual worth. to make it. But his way of going about most modish forms, ready to promote The same qualities were in evidence points in Leave’s favour. Johnson’s feel- The same applies to his encounters raeli got the Second Reform Bill, this is rather unusual. Most of those whatever the Establishment regarded ON TONY BLAIR when he led the Leave campaign to ing for how things would play outside with the public since he won the lead- which gave many working men the who pursue a political career seek to as sensible. Towards the end of 2004, It is just flipping unbelievable. He victory in the UK’s 2016 referendum. Westminster, and ability to articulate ership. These are too numerous, and in right to vote, through Parliament in rise by pleasing the powers that be Johnson came a cropper, first when is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a Remainers denounced Johnson as an anti-establishment views, had helped some cases spontaneous, to be immac- 1867 by behaving with impudent free- within the party hierarchy. Johnson’s the Spectator published a leading arti- greased piglet. He is barely human in opportunist for doing this. After all, him lead his side to an unexpected vic- ulately choreographed, but the rate of dom and resourcefulness, or as Lex- instinct is to play to the widest possi- cle attacking the people of Liverpool, his elusiveness. Nailing Blair is like had he not written two articles, one for tory over Cameron. fire is astonishing, and the imperfec- den puts it, “by brilliant manoeuvres ble audience, and to do so by mocking and then when he wrongly dismissed trying to pin jelly to a wall. leaving and one for remaining, while he These qualities did not help him to tion of some of his performances – the which won him the temporary support the hierarchy. The obvious comparison the allegation that he was having an made his mind up? win the resulting Tory leadership battle empty podium at the press conference of first one opposition group, and then ON HILLARY CLINTON is with David Cameron. At Eton and affair as “an inverted pyramid of piffle”, In my opinion, it was intelligent of in 2016. Before he had time to create an with the Prime Minister of Luxem- another”. It is by no means impossible She’s got dyed blonde hair and pouty Oxford, Johnson became a famous fig- which gave the tabloid press the chance Johnson to admit that there were argu- efficient leadership campaign, his ally, bourg, the angry father in the NHS hos- that Johnson will do something similar lips, and a steely blue stare, like a Michael Gove, suffered a public loss of pital – made them more newsworthy. ure by playing to the gallery. He devel- to prove him a liar. These blunders sadistic nurse in a mental hospital. ments for both courses of action. It with Brexit. Tory Democracy is in the oped his brilliant ability as a comic meant he was in no position, the follow- was also in accordance with his past faith in him, and ran against him. We do not yet know what effect this hands of a new adventurer, who con- speaker, and realised that forgetting, ing year, to enter the Tory leadership ON CHINA practice that he declined the honour This year, things were different. electioneering before a UK general founds his opponents by what strikes or seeming to forget, his lines could be race when Michael Howard stood down Chinese cultural influence is virtually of becoming a loyal cog in the Cam- Johnson had realised he needed an effi- election, expected this autumn, has them as his sheer unscrupulousness, much funnier than giving an immacu- after losing the 2005 general election. nil, and unlikely to increase... eron-Osborne machine, and instead cient campaign, and had one ready to go been called will have. His critics refuse and by his mysterious ability to enlist late performance. The relatively unknown but far more chose the riskier but more enjoyable when Theresa May threw in the towel. to engage in the willing suspension of working-class support. ■ ON TURKISH PRESIDENT Cameron, who attended the same dependable Cameron came through TAYYIP ERDOGAN choice of defying the Brussels estab- More importantly, she had discredited disbelief which is required if a piece of establishments, made no attempt and won. There was a young fellow from Ankara lishment and pretty much the entire the belief that Brexit could be done in a political theatre is to be a complete suc- to become famous, and after Oxford Johnson found himself kept at a dis- Who was a terrific wankerer. British establishment. slow, cautious, tactful way, and had cre- cess. Many of them think this sort of Andrew Gimson is contributing editor at went off to work for the Conservative tance by the new Tory leader, for the last Till he sowed his wild oats During the referendum campaign, ated an appetite for more adventurous clowning is unworthy of an illustrious Conservative Home, and author of Boris: Cameron prevailed on Barack Obama leadership and Boris’s high risk strategy. democracy, and are in no way mollified The Making of a Prime Minister (Simon & Research Department, where he won thing Cameron wanted was a loose can- With the help of a goat Schuster, £10.99 ), and of Gimson’s Prime golden opinions from senior ministers, non Old Etonian stealing his thunder. But he didn’t even stop to thankera. to come to London and advise Brit- H.H. Asquith, Prime Minister from by his pre-emptive readiness to mock Ministers: Brief Lives from Walpole to while remaining unknown to the wider At this juncture, Johnson could have ons to vote to stay in the European 1908-16, wrote in 1926: “The office of himself. Johnson (Square Peg, £10.99) 6 EUROPE theconservative.online theconservative.online EUROPE 7

Nazism and Communism have no place in Europe Geoffrey Van Orden on Brexit he ECR party’s inaugural Train- a campaign leaflet or how to write discussions took place on how best to ing Academy in Madeira early a press release) to more complex harness the influence of technology for MEPs unite behind the Both sides want a deal and T this September will be followed issues–on how best to organise focus political ends. up by a second series of training sessions groups and build models for voter In addition, the ECR Party organ- ECR’s condemnation of it’s time to get on with it in December to be held in Granada. identification. ised a range of cultural activities for This will build on the success of the To this end, the ECR Party bought delegates. The island might be a small totalitarian regimes ichel Barnier, the EU’s chief ECR Party’s first event, where politi- together some of the worlds leading archipelago, but it boasts a rich his- negotiator, needs a “hurry cal activists, journalists and strategists experts on strategic communications, tory that belies its size. There are few M up” call to agree a Brexit deal were invited to engage with conser- campaigning and fundraising. places in Europe that can match its Fight Against Totalitarianism, the before the UK leaves on October 31. vatives of different backgrounds from Additionally, panel discussions were curious mix of rustic beauty, its abun- same date as the anniversary of the That was the message from Geoffrey Europe, to share ideas and strengthen held on how best to train participants dance of ancient sites and its proud execution of the Auschwitz hero, Rota- Van Orden, vice-chair of the ECR and relationships across borders. on how to interact with traditional sense of place, a wonderful tonic to master Witold Pilecki. leader of the ECR’s delegation of UK Sessions ranged from the nitty media, as well as how to navigate the the stresses of modernity and indus- ECR foreign affairs spokesperson, Conservative MEPS, in his speech to gritty side of politics (how to design changing societal landscape. Extensive trialised life. ■ Anna Fotyga MEP said: “On the 80th the European Parliament during a key anniversary of the outbreak of World debate on Britain’s departure. War II, we want to remind people of Mr Van Orden, 74, thanked both Mr the tragic consequences of the poli- Barnier and Commission President Jean cies of Nazi Germany and Soviet Rus- Claude Juncker for their “broadly help- sia. I see it as a ray of hope, that the ful and positive” remarks at the start of European Parliament, and Europe, is the debate. But he stressed that the UK capable of a shared memory. That we would be leaving on October 31 and EU are able to describe history accord- capitals should be urging Mr Barnier to ing to indisputable facts, draw conclu- “get on with it” to deliver a deal. sions, and commemorate all victims Mr Van Orden said: “The British Gov- of great totalitarianisms and other ernment wants a deal. Not any old deal, dictatorships. but one that is acceptable to the British “We must also honour those heroes Parliament and people. And we need to from our part of Europe, who stood get it over with quickly. We must leave against two terrible regimes. That is on 31 October. What would be the point why we propose May 25th, the anni- of further delay? Some of you may think resolution paying tribute to versary of the execution of such a hero, that if we drag this out a bit more then the victims of communism, Rotamaster Witold Pilecki, to be the there will be a change of regime in Brit- A Nazism and other totalitarian International Day of Heroes of the ain, and maybe a change of heart. I and authoritarian regimes brought by Fight against Totalitarianism.” believe this is delusion.” the ERC was adopted on the 20th Sep- Pilecki (1901-1948) was a Polish cav- He warned that the wrangling between tember by an overwhelming majority alry officer, intelligence agent, and Britain and the EU over the shape of in the European Parliament. In partic- resistance leader. He founded the Brexit could permanently sour relations: ular, the text indicated that the signing Secret Polish Army, a group of resis- “What sort of relationship do you want of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and tance fighters in German-occupied to see with Britain in the future - a pos- its secret protocols, officially known as Poland. Imprisoned in Auschwitz for itive one, based on friendship and good- the Treaty of Non-aggression between his anti-Nazi activities for over two will and mutual interest? Or one based Germany and the Union of Soviet years, he mounted an audacious escape on anger and bitterness and exclusion?” EP - Source: Union 2019 European Photo: Socialist Republics, led to the out- in 1943 and later took part in the War- Mr Van Orden used an interview with break of the Second World War. Fur- saw uprising in August-October 1944. Sky News in July to raise concerns over A reshaped Withdrawal Agreement not mention the border,” he said. thermore, it proved the basis for the When the war came to an end, he the state of the UK-EU negotiations. should retain joint commitments over “It is however,” he continued, “based division of Europe along totalitarian continued his dissident activities, He singled out President Emmanuel citizens’ rights, Mr Van Orden told on parity of esteem between the two lines and for the territories of hitherto organising underground resistance Macron of France for criticism over his MEPs: “The EU needs to adopt a simi- communities, the two traditions, in independent states to be split between to the Soviet occupation. In 1947, he tough stance on Brexit: “It is pure pol- larly generous approach towards Brit- Northern Ireland. Please do not forget the influence of Nazi Germany and the was arrested by agents of the Minis- itics, the obstructionism we are seeing ish nationals in the EU as the British that the majority of people in Northern Soviet Union. try of Public Security and was con- from certain countries.” He continued: government has towards EU citizens in Ireland are Unionists - they are proud The move would foster a “common demned to death at a show trial. His “France, in particular, have been poi- the UK.” to be both Northern Irish and British culture of remembrance”, MEPs said. last recorded words were as follows: sonous in terms of negotiations with the The most significant stumbling block and wish to remain so.” Lawmakers stressed that the Krem- “I’ve been trying to live my life so that United Kingdom.” in the negotiations remains the North- He concluded by urging Mr Barnier lin’s promotion of the fantasy that in the hour of my death I would rather First elected to the European Parlia- ern Irish backstop, but Mr Van Orden to “apply some creative thinking” to Poland, the Baltic States and the West feel joy, than fear.” ment in 1999, Mr Van Orden served as noted: “No one has a greater interest in the negotiations and find a way to facil- were the true instigators of WWII, is Summing up the hard work that pro- the Conservatives’ spokesman for For- peace than the people of Northern Ire- itate a managed withdrawal for the a function of its strategy to divide the ceeded the adoption of the final text eign, Defence and Security policy. He land and the British government.” He UK from the European Union: “Let us West by information war. The resolu- of the resolution, Fotyga added: “The was instrumental in the foundation criticised EU negotiators for taking a not lose the opportunity for that ‘fresh tion, supported by 535 votes in favour, negotiations on the text were not easy of the ECR group in 2009 and is the maximalist view on North-South coop- and exciting partnership’ between the with 66 against and 52 abstentions, and required a lot of cross-party nego- Founding President of the ECR’s think- eration and the border: “We [the UK] are European Union and the United King- calls for the 25th May to become the tiation and cooperation but I am happy tank, New Direction - the Foundation committed to the Good Friday Agree- dom, to serve all our people well in the International Day of Heroes of the that, finally, we found wide support.” ■ for European Reform. ment. This Agreement, by the way, does years ahead.” ■

Anti-FGM campaigners win deserved recognition ECR Group nominates the Restorers for the Sakharov Prize 2019 ive teenage girls from Kenya reached the final of the Technovation European Parliament in 2019 and sits as who founded an app to help girls Challenge in 2017, an initiative to attract a member of the New Flemish Alliance affected by Female Genital Muti- more women to the technology sector. party. Photo: European Union 2019 - Source: EP - Source: Union 2019 European Photo: F lation (FGM) have been nominated for MEP Assita Kanko, 39, said: “These According to the World Health Orga- the 2019 Sakharov prize on the initiative girls have shown a lot of courage to nization, three million young girls world- of ECR MEP Assita Kanko. The European develop this app. Apart from the help wide are at risk of FGM every year. Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize that this can offer, it brings FGM’s grue- Currently, 200 million girls and women every year to honour exceptional individ- some practice into even more attention. have to live with the terrible conse- uals and organisations defending human A big compliment to them and I hope the quences of genital mutilation. This prac- rights and fundamental freedoms. app will be used by threatened girls and tice remains widespread in Africa, Asia Known as The Restorers, a group of five women all over the world.” and the Middle East, but thousands of Kenyan students developed the i-Cut app She added: “This app is a very good girls are still at risk each year throughout two years ago – it was designed to allow example of how grassroots initiatives can the EU. girls and young women who find them- help girls to take their fate into their own More worrying still is that in more selves at risk of genital mutilation to find hands, especially in communities where and more countries, genital mutilation 13th - 15th December 2019 • GRANADA • SPAIN help. The app gives five clearly defined this remains far from evident today.” is now being effectively “medicalized”; options: “help”, “rescue”, “report”, “infor- Ms Kanko suffered female genital with medical care providers being sum- mation on FGM” and “donate and feed- mutilation as a young girl in her native moned to circumcise girls, a phenome- back”. A user can then seek medical or Burkina Faso. She has since worked to non which has created the impression ECRPARTY.EU • @ECRPARTY government assistance in the event of an ban the practice. Kanko moved to the that genital mutilation no longer entails impending genital mutilation. As a result Netherlands in 2001 to study journal- health risks, a belief that has been shown of their hard work, these five students ism. She was elected as a Member of the to be untrue. ■ 8 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS theconservative.online theconservative.online WORLD ANALYSIS 9

he cornerstone of demo- maturing government bonds and thus cratic societies is democratic to perpetuate its role as the super large control. Few areas of gov- The eerie growth in creditor of Eurozone countries. ernment activity are beyond Large creditors have enormous influ- Tdemocratic control and, if so, this typ- ence over their debtors. If the ECB were Trump in poll position for 2020 ically reflects deliberate decisions. For to sell a country’s government bonds on instance, most countries have opted for a large scale, private investors would President Trump he boiler house of Republican – that President Trump is being threat- primaries are on the point of being can- for battle while their opponents strug- central banks which are – at least on do the same because there is usually no gossip is the downstairs restau- ened by three Republican upstarts in celled in Kansas, Arizona, South Caro- gle to group their forces. paper – independent. In this case, parlia- ECB POWER point in speculating against the actions has a tight grip on rant of Washington’s Capi- the primaries. Democrats hang on to lina and Nevada. Democrats continue to fight like cats The increasingly assertive decisions of Europe’s of a central bank. Such a general wave of T ments or governments have no say in the tol Club – the national social club for these three challengers like life belts, The Republican National Commit- in a sack. There were twenty four candi- monetary policy decisions of the central central bankers are a threat to democracy sales would deprive the state concerned the Republican Republicans, 300 First Street, in the as their own primary process becomes tee, working hand in hand with the dates at one point. bank. It follows that such central banks of practically any financing possibility shadow of the Capitol. It has been since ever more mired in infighting and Trump re-election campaign, arranged There are four well funded runners should adhere strictly to their statutory on the capital market and possibly drive machine ahead 1950. inconclusive debates, no breakthrough a non debate among all three earlier this left; former Vice President Joe Biden, mandate precisely because they operate by Bernd Lucke MEP it into sovereign default. of next year’s US It has an unassuming, elegant, green candidate emerging. month. Sanford took an Appalachian Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth without democratic control. Would the ECB go that far? This is not canopied entrance and glows with bur- President Trump, with his Twitter hike and didn’t attend. Sensible. Warren, Bernie Sanders and – surpris- This is, for example, the view of the clear, but smaller steps in this direction election, and his nished wood. The restaurant, in which laser, has dubbed the three Republican At the 2016 Cleveland Republi- ingly – Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South German Federal Constitutional Court, may be painful enough. The ECJ itself legislators have been known to book challengers as “The Three Stooges”. can convention I asked every National Bend, Indiana. The much tipped Cal- which has repeatedly emphasized that addressed this problem with refreshing Democrat rivals three lunch tables to hop among meet- They are, Mark Sanford, the for- Committee representative I bumped ifornia Senator, Kamala Harris’ cam- Article 20 (1) of the German Constitu- naivety in its ruling. Naïve, because the have yet to come up ings with lobbyists, journalists and mer Governor of South Carolina, Joe into if they were supporting the Trump paign seems to have run into the tion (“The Federal Republic of Germany Decisions should be taken democratically in the elected ECJ apparently sees no problem at all more lobbyists, is a buzzing hub of Walsh, the former Tea Party supporting election effort. The most emphatic said, ground. is a democratic and social federal state”) parliament of the member state. In future, however, the ECB will in the Eurosystem having “the option with a convincing power. Pork is being barrelled before Congressman from Illinois, and Wil- requires a narrow interpretation of the of selling purchased bonds at any time, you, budget lines are being written, liam F Weld, the former Governor of mandate of the European System of interfere and say what it considers reasonable. And everyone which enables it to adapt its programme challenger Congressmen tossed morsels to keep Massachusetts. Central Banks (ESCB). This is because according to the attitudes of the mem- their constituents happy. They make a bizarre trio. Mark San- will know that the ECB can cause a lot of trouble by selling off ber states concerned”. the principle of central bank indepen- by Gerald Malone Nowhere is there talk of the big news ford was censured and almost forced The Republican re-election committee dence is an exception to the principle government bonds if it is not listened to. Read this a second time: According in the liberal leaning New York Times out of office when, while Governor of of democratic control and the decisions to the ECJ, whether the ECSB holds South Carolina, he went AWOL for six has been up and running for months in of the ECB therefore lack democratic or sells the bonds of a particular mem- days. His staff claimed he was on a hik- its quiet Washington DC HQ. They are legitimacy. In particular, the ECB is not ber state shall depend on the “atti- ing tour on the Appalachian Trail, but empowered to interpret or define the tudes of the member state concerned”. he was really with his Argentinian mis- ready for battle while their opponents limits of its mandate itself. In short- This is to say that member states which tress, Maria Belén Chapur, in Buenos hand: The ECB does not have the com- behave well (in the eyes of the ECB) will Aires. struggle to group their forces. petence to define its competences. enjoy the goodwill of the ECB. mem- Shutterstock.com Photo: He is entering the Primary race This is quite at odds with the Euro- ber states whose democratically elected because the President has not elimi- tepidly, “perhaps”. The explanation Cards on the table. The Democrat pean Court of Justice (ECJ), which, in parliaments wish to adopt fiscal poli- nated the budget deficit. No one else was that the coming together of party candidate will be either Elizabeth War- its recent (December 2018) ruling on the cies which do not find the approval of in the country, Republican or Dem- and election campaign teams could be ren or Joe Biden. Bernie Sanders is flap- ESCB’s Public Sector Purchasing Pro- the ECB must expect the ECB to use its ocrat, seems to give a tinker’s cuss expected only after the nomination ping about manically, looking more like gramme (PSPP) reiterated its view that influence to prevent these decisions. about that. was settled. Truth is, there was residual Waldorf, one of the grumpy old guys in the ESCB enjoys “broad discretion” in This influence was already apparent Joe Walsh, once a Trump supporter, hope – right until the floor vote – that the Muppets, by the day, and Pete Butti- questions of monetary policy. As a con- during the euro crisis. The ECB was part is on a self-proclaimed moral mission. “something” would result in Trump gieg is cutting no ice nationally. sequence, the ECJ does not object to the of the troika and as such it imposed con- He says: “Donald Trump is not fit to run being trumped. Fat chance. President Trump has Elizabeth War- fact that the Eurosystem now holds gov- ditions on the crisis states as to which the country”. As a candidate in 2016 The difference now is that President ren and Jo Biden boxed as “Pocahontas” ernment bonds from Eurozone coun- reforms they had to implement. Pen- Trump was the best known quantity – Trump owns the Republican Party. (mocking Senator Warren’s attempts to tries worth about 2.1 trillion euros. This sion cuts, for example, were imposed morally and intellectually – to stand for Sometimes through gritted teeth, but claim American Indian heritage) and is almost a quarter of the Eurozone’s by the ECB (together with the EU and election, probably in the last 100 years, with the President’s approval ratings “Sleepy Joe” (a bullseye on the former total national debt. The system of Euro- the IMF). But by what right does a dem- so this is a bit rich. at the grass roots hitting 80%, the party Vice President). pean Central Banks is by far the greatest ocratically uncontrolled institution William F Weld is hoping to appeal machine knows that any split will dev- If the Democrats want to win they creditor of Eurozone governments. whose task is to maintain price stability to moderate voters in New Hampshire astate their hopes of gaining ground in will pick Joe Biden, sleepy, often for- The ESCB has officially justified its decide on pension cuts in Greece? and take it from there. After resigning Congress. The man best placed to give getful, or whatever. He is best placed bond purchases with an inflation rate The future could now look like this: as Governor of Massachusetts in 1997 the President a run for his money, Sena- to win back middle ground voters that that is too low – far lower than the tar- a highly indebted state wants to invest Mr Weld was appointed Ambassador to tor Mitt Romney, knows that too and is couldn’t stand Hillary and voted Trump get of close to but below two percent. billions in infrastructure in order to Mexico – by President Clinton. He then sitting this one out. in 2106. But the party has become so This monetary policy goal is legitimate, become more competitive. Or it wants joined the Libertarian Party to become The Republican re-election commit- introspective and determined to pander however the justification for the large- to invest massively in schools and uni- the running mate of former Governor tee has been up and running for months to its far left activists that it will prob- scale purchases of government bonds is PSPP, the Eurosystem is not buying gov- Surprisingly, in its December 2018 rul- Professor Hans-Deltlev Horn, now con- versities in order to get a better quali- of New Mexico, Gary Johnson in the in its quiet Washington DC HQ. It has ably plump for the angry librarian from unconvincing. For instance, let us com- ernment bonds “directly” from the state. ing, the ECJ did not object to this practice. cludes that this is incompatible with fied workforce. Or it wants to increase 2016 presidential election. He rejoined been doing boring things. Data mining Massachusetts. pare the development of inflation rates Rather, it buys them from big banks and The new argument was that no bank had a Articles 20 and 79 of the German Con- social benefits because it believes that the Republican Party – to stand against to shape door to door campaigns in bat- One portent. The cheery panhandler in the US and in the Eurozone, cf. Fig- the big banks buy them from the state. certitude that a specific government bond stitution. These articles protect the the economy will pick up as a result of President Trump. He is not touting his tleground states, shaping social media I pass on 1st Avenue and 57th Street in ure 1. In March 2015, when the PSPP Not even the ECJ wanted to accept acquired on the primary market would identity of the Federal Republic of Ger- increased purchasing power. Suppose record of consistency. campaigns, then leveraging those con- the mornings used to sport a sign, “Give began, inflation rates in the US and in tricks which circumvent the Treaties. indeed be purchased by the ESCB. But many as a democratic state. A ruling by these measures are to be financed by Do the trio present a serious obstacle tacts to gather small donations, rather me a $, I’m running for President”. Now the Eurozone were almost identical and In an earlier ruling (the so-called OMT that is not the point at all. Banks buy large the ECJ which legitimizes the ECB’s increases in government debt. to Donald Trump’s assumed coronation than be in hock to cigar chomping the sign reads, “Give me a $”. If even close to zero. In the following four years, ruling of 16.6.2015), the ECJ had laid quantities of different government bonds monetary (and economic) policy deci- True, the usefulness and economic at the Republican’s Charlotte conven- donors. Ninety per cent of donations he is out of the race, the Donald has it the ESCB bought 2.1 trillion euros of down that the ESCB must not acquire from the state and they do so for differ- sions in violation of Article 123 of the prospects of these measures may be tion in August 2020? No. Republican fall below the $100 level. They are ready made. I gave him a $. ■ government bonds, while the Federal government bonds through commercial ent reasons related to trading purposes or Treaty on the Functioning of the Euro- controversial, but ultimately these are Reserve Bank did just the opposite: It banks, if “in practice” this would have regulatory requirements. Banks mostly pean Union would itself lack demo- political and economic differences of sold off treasury bills. the same effect as a direct acquisition. do not care which concrete bonds they cratic legitimacy because no sovereign opinion. Decisions should be taken Despite the widely different mon- Banks must not be used as “de facto keep and which they resell to the ESCB. power has been transferred to the ECJ democratically in the elected parlia- etary policies, inflation rates in both intermediaries” of the ESCB. What is important to them is the volume which would allow the Court to tolerate ment of the member state. In future, Downfall of Trudeau exposes the hypocrisy of woke politics jurisdictions moved almost in parallel, But this is exactly what has happened of bonds they need for their own purposes the ECB overstretching its mandate to however, the ECB will interfere and with the US inflation rate being consis- in the PSPP since 2015. The ESCB and the volume they can sell (profitably) the extent of an outright breach of the say what it considers reasonable. And The carefully calibrated image built by then an English teacher at the school, noticed around the world. Trudeau posed political career went from strength to tently somewhat higher than Eurozone bought government bonds worth 2100 to the ESCB. They increase their bond Treaties. everyone will know that the ECB can wearing blackface for an “Arabian Nights” in Vogue and had interviews with the New strength. But Justin Trudeau the politi- inflation. Only in the first year of Euro- billion euros from the private banking demand exactly by the latter amount. The study calls on the German Fed- cause a lot of trouble by selling off gov- Canada’s liberal-left Prime Minister was a themed party. Yikes. York Times. He became a global celebrity cian and liberal hero is hollow. zone bond purchases did the inflation system. Clearly, such a huge amount of Like all courts, the ECJ is – for good eral Constitutional Court (GFCC) to ernment bonds if it is not listened to. Hours later a photo of him in black- and the darling of the liberal left. On the day he was sworn in with his rates move in opposite directions. But bonds did not coincidentally lie around reasons – itself an independent insti- correct this lax attitude of the ECJ in The Treaties prohibit the monetary hollow sham and now he has been found out face from his own high school yearbook When he was sworn in as Canada’s 50/50 cabinet he also stood by the newly this must have been quite unwelcome without proper purpose in banks’ secu- tution beyond democratic control. In its upcoming ruling. This would be an financing of member states by national went public too. Then, another video of prime minister, he stood beside the 15 appointed justice minister and attorney news for Draghi and the ESCB board rities portfolios and – not knowing what its rulings the ECJ is therefore bound act of revolt by the GFCC against the governments. One concern is that this by Ben Kelly him in blackface was published. To top it women and 15 men of his cabinet. A general, Jody Wilson-Raybould. This because during this time Eurozone else to do with it – banks decided to just to refrain from any kind of arbitrari- hierarchically superior ECJ and it may would give rise to inflation, which is off, Trudeau admitted that in high school reporter asked him why he felt gender year, Trudeau was accused of bullying inflation rates fell despite massive bond sell it off when the ECSB launched the ness in its judgements. In particular, the be that the GFCC will eventually back essentially a tax on money holdings with- he sang Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The balance was important. Pausing only for Wilson-Raybould into helping SNC-La- purchases, while US inflation increased PSPP. The truth is that the PSPP spec- ECJ is not empowered to interpret and out - it has done so already on previous out any democratic legitimacy. In times fter years of carefully cultivating I’ve heard it said that his tarnished Banana Boat Song)” in blackface for a tal- a moment, Trudeau replied, “because it’s valin, a Quebec-based engineering com- despite bond selloffs. ified exactly how many billions of gov- develop EU law in such a way that it legit- occasions. But this time may be differ- of low inflation, this may not be the pri- an image, it has emerged recently reputation is bad for all liberals. Spare ent show. 2015.” And a million hands slapped him pany, avoid a corruption trial in order to It is therefore hard to argue that the ernment bonds the ESCB would buy imizes whatever action the ECB consid- ent. It may be different because what is mary concern, though. Currently, a much that the sun does not, in-fact, me. Liberalism is a substantial philoso- The puppy dog, weepy eyes were on the back. avoid hurting his electoral chances if they ers appropriate in a specific situation. at stake is probably the greatest transfer greater concern should be the fact that A ESCB’s bond purchases were a nec- each month and hence, even if the ESCB shine out of haloed Justin Trudeau’s phy with a deep intellectual foundation deployed for the apology. It was a line reported all over the world. relocated. essary monetary policy intervention. bought randomly from various banks, Rather – and precisely because the ECB of power to an institution beyond dem- monetary financing by the central bank backside. Ahead of the federal election that inspires a diverse range of ideologi- The concocted image really began to For that, he can thank his adviser Gerald So here we have the self-declared femi- Moreover, the purchase of govern- each bank could compute with little sta- is not subject to democratic control - the ocratic control in recent history. makes all Eurozone governments depen- in Canada, taking place on October 21st, cal interpretations. It’s sad that this air- unravel with his 2018 family trip to India. Butts. Of course, they’d had it all planned nist, champion of transparency, defender ment bonds violates Article 123 of the tistical effort the average monthly vol- ECJ is charged with scrutinizing the pol- If the GFCC does not object to the dent on a single institution, the Euro- the liberal Boy Wonder’s reputation has headed frat bro should be perceived as one Never mind his clumsy diplomacy, what out. Everything about Trudeau’s brand of minority rights, throwing his ethi- Treaty on the Functioning of the Euro- ume of government bonds the ESCB icy measures of the ECB and to square ECJ preliminary ruling, it would be pean Central Bank. This dependence is taken quite the battering. That’s why we of its most important global ambassadors. sticks in the mind is Trudeau flouncing was planned and created. In discussions cal code out the window in pursuit of his pean Union (TFEU) and oversteps the was likely to buy from them. As a result, them with the pre-defined limits of its legal for the ECB to be by far the largest undemocratic since the ECB is beyond see so much of that well-practised face he His politics is an ode to superficiality. His around dressed like a patronising cari- beforehand, Butts had told him, “I think political goals. mandate of the European Central Bank banks bought 2,100 billion euros more mandate rather than revise these stan- creditor of all euro states for decades to democratic control. If in a democratic pulls where his famous big blue eyes look liberalism is shallow, typified by his virtue cature of an Indian. The cringeworthy just calling people’s attention to the year Four more years of this? Perhaps, but since Article 123 prohibits the direct government bonds from the state than dards ex post in an apologetic manner. come. Bear in mind that the ESCB has society all state authority shall be derived like they’re about to well up. Boo-hoo. signalling in-your-face wokeness. photo of him pressing his hands together is all you really need to say.” if he somehow is reelected let’s not spend purchase of government bonds from they themselves needed. And then they In its December 2018 preliminary shown no intention so far to gradually from the people, the financing of the state It’s like watching a cute but half-witted Embarrassingly for Trudeau, in Sep- in mock piety was peak Justin. From then, the woke meme in Canadian those years fawning over a phoney. He public authorities of member states. sold them on to the ESCB, just like a ruling the ECJ has done just this. But sell off the stock of government bonds. must also come from the people. We can puppy get a kicking for burrowing around tember Time Magazine published a photo His exposure as a husk was inevita- politics went into hyperdrive. Trudeau bedazzled Canada with clever marketing Since the direct purchase is prohib- middleman. They did exactly what the a recent study by the renowned Ger- Quite the contrary: the ECB board has only hope that the German Federal Con- in the bin bags again, but the exposure of from a 2001 private high school yearbook ble from the moment his successful Lib- was a daily feature on every Canadi- and celebrity stardust, and now he has ited, the ESCB took a detour. Through the ECJ had found inadmissible. man professor of constitutional law, decided to reinvest the proceeds from stitutional Court is aware of this fact. ■ insincerity is a beautiful thing. which showed the 29-year-old Trudeau, eral Party election campaign in 2013 was an’s social media as his stage-managed been rumbled. ■ 10 COMMENTARY theconservative.online theconservative.online COMMENTARY 11

LEADER COLUMN

European CONSERVATISM needs to reclaim

he installation of a new EU Commission is always a significant its event, but the changing of the guard on 1 November this year T occurs at a moment of unprecedented tension within the Euro- IDENTITY pean Union. For the first time, the EU is about to lose a member state, there are continuing concerns regarding the Euro, difficult relations between northern and southern members, confrontation between Brussels and eastern European states and an intractable and divisive immigration crisis. How will the incoming Commission cope with these challenges? Confidence in the new Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is already tempered by her poor record in handling the German defence portfolio and the slimness of her mandate – elected president by just 383 votes out of 747. On the other hand, her team is one-third composed of veterans of the Juncker era with valuable experience. It also includes heavyweights Conservatism in Europe has a rich philosophical heritage. If the European Union such as former Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, in the Economy port- folio, providing a useful link to the political establishment in Italy, the is to be revitalized and remoulded constructively in a conservative direction, its likeliest fiscal trouble spot. Another question mark over the new Commission president is how aspiring regenerators must reacquaint themselves with their history far she has truly resiled from her ultra-federalist ambitions of a few years ago. The integrationist leopard seldom changes its spots. Nor is by Gerald Warner it reassuring to see failed presidential aspirant Frans Timmermans nominated as Executive Vice-President for a European Green Deal. This socialist will now help implement the new Commission’s policy hat is Conservatism? hybrid neo-liberal construct that inter- the roots of conservatism – to “go back than abstract reasoning (in contrast half of the Christian era. Whatever dev- credible or compatible with conserva- David Hume’s empiricism, dubi- That is what a scientist does in his on climate change. Climate change is occurring, but common sense How is it defined? What prets conservatism as little more than to basics”. Burke’s observation “Those to Plato), his acknowledgement of the astation was inflicted upon Europe by tive principles? ously interpreted by some as a symp- laboratory when an experiment has indicates it is far from apocalyptic and politically-motivated hysteria is are its origins, its justi- an umbrella protecting market econom- who don’t know history are destined to family as the primary unit of society and wars, plagues and famines, established Certainly those conservatives who tom of conservatism, by legitimizing failed: retraces his steps to discover distorting scientific reality. fications, its core phi- ics and extravagant individualism. This repeat it” has never been more relevant his preference for an evolved, institu- traditions continued to command uni- lived through the Enlightenment expe- unfettered scepticism arguably put the his error. The very narcissism of the Ursula von der Leyen wishes to formulate climate legislation within losophy?W Even for the most committed is not a purely 21st-century phenome- than for conservatives today. tionalized social order directed towards versal assent, even if often breached. rience and its chief consequence, human imagination into a straitjacket, term “Enlightenment” invites scepti- her first 100 days and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much and articulate conservatives those are non: in 19th-century Spain the tensions What will be essayed here is a brief morally good ends. Those are undeni- The first sundering of this seamless the French Revolution, answered No excluding the metaphysical and lay- cism. The Enlightenment’s first-gen- as 55 per cent by 2030. The ECR Group has always regarded sensible not easy questions to answer. Unlike its between Traditionalism and Conserva- outline of the history of the conserva- ably basic conservative instincts. consensus and the first challenge to the to both questions. Edmund Burke’s ing the ground for a two-dimensional eration children were the terrorist and sustainable measures which do not place unnecessary and costly progressive antitheses, conservatism is tism were a significant factor in politics. tive idea, to be followed in the pages of At the beginning of the Christian established order came with the Ref- denunciation of the philosophes and interpretation of the human condi- Jacobins, proto-Nazi in thought and burdens on businesses and member states as the correct response to not a contrived, synthetically manufac- Traditionalism is the original and The Conservative in future editions by era, while it could be argued that those ormation. To contemporaries it was a “sophisters” who brought bloodshed tion. The Enlightenment philosophers action, including the now acknowl- climate and other issues. It seems questionable that the Commission’s tured blueprint for society: rather it is purer version of the philosophy we call a series of articles focusing on individ- defending the old pagan classical reli- seismic event; yet, in social and political and anarchy to Europe was echoed by saw Reason, that is to say their individ- edged genocide in the Vendée. Karl climate initiatives will meet those criteria. an instinct, an intuitive response to the conservatism today. It is embedded in ual conservative thinkers and schools gious beliefs during the first three centu- terms, it did not appear revolutionary. Joseph de Maistre, Louis de Bonald and ual brains, as the sole means of under- Marx could never have confected his The immigration crisis, too, needs to be solved by supporting mem- circumstances of life, guided by the tra- the roots of society: family, faith, com- of thought across Europe. The object ries of Christianity, including the Roman Apart from phenomena such as the the large school of Counter-Enlighten- standing human existence. By creating dark creed had the Enlightenment not ber states in protecting the EU’s external border, increasing returns of ditions of an evolved culture, polity and munity, property rights, locally evolved will be to identify the varied strains of emperors, were taking a conservative radically revolutionary Anabaptists ment philosophers who rallied to reas- a tabula rasa they cut themselves off taken place. failed asylum seekers to their countries of origin, adopting EU-wide civilization. That makes it an elusive organs of governance and cultural iden- conservatism arising from the histori- stance, it was also true that the early in Munster who were suppressed, the sert traditional ideas of society. They from the wisdom of the centuries so It might be that, after a rigorous reap- measures that have the unanimous backing of member states and idea to categorize. tity. In refutation of Rousseau’s con- cal experience of different nations, the Church, even in the face of ferocious per- spectacle of Protestant princes in Ger- were denounced for that as “reactionar- that post-Enlightenment European praisal, conservatives would give the working with third countries to deter migrants from making danger- Conservatives, for the divergences of thought and secution, never adopted a revolution- many and elsewhere appro- thought became a derac- Enlightenment a clean bill of health; but ous Mediterranean crossings. Will the new Commission adopt this most part, do not greatly the unifying principles that ary political stance. Despite attempts by priating Church lands to inated, wholly subjective that does not relieve them of the respon- realistic policy or continue to wave a stick at migrant-excluding mem- dwell on such philosophical have created this signifi- “liberation theologians” in the last cen- expand their domains and archipelago of individual sibility to carry out such a re-evalua- ber states? questions. There has always cant ideological tradition. tury to depict Christ as a revolutionary, assuming authority over the speculation. tion. They also need to ask why, after Besides the incoming Commission, there are also concerns with been a small minority, To restore intellectual Finally, in the light of that his admonition “Render unto Caesar” souls as well as the bodies of Something has gone wrong Today it is blasphemy to Marxism has been so comprehensively regard to the policies of the outgoing president of the European Cen- though, in each generation, integrity to their beliefs and investigation, some propos- prevailed until, under Constantine, the their subjects hardly reeked with the thought processes question the intellectual discredited in the economic and politi- tral Bank, Mario Draghi. At the close of 2018, with some fanfare, the that has been impelled to als will be advanced for the Church and the Empire embraced. of social revolution. The revolution that some con- cal sphere, it is fast achieving hegemony ECB announced the end of its quantitative easing programme which formulate the conservative aspirations for society is the regeneration and propaga- Thereafter, for more than a millen- hierarchic order in Catho- of European conservatism. servative thinkers called in the even more crucial cultural arena. had seen it create more than €2.5 trillion over four years. Now, QE is ideal and present a coher- tion of a contemporary ver- nium and despite the collapse of the lic and Protestant states was the Pseudo-Enlightenment. Something has gone wrong with the back. As the last major decision of his term as ECB president, Mario ent intellectual thesis in its urgent task facing European sion of conservatism that Roman Empire and relentless war- similar so that, in the secular Many of its supporters have so Everything prior to that thought processes of European con- Draghi has pledged to buy €20bn in bonds and other financial assets defence. In recent decades, conservatives. After decades Europe desperately needs if fare and social dislocation, the Church sphere, life seemed to go on minimalist a concept of it that experience is seen as a dark servatism. Many of its supporters have every month, from November, for “as long as necessary”. some conservative com- the continent is to recover remained a crucial stabilizing factor in much as before. age. When attempting to dis- so minimalist a concept of it that they This decision was made in the face of opposition from Germany, mentators and politicians, of freewheeling it is time to from its current crisis of European society. Then, in the 13th cen- That perception was mis- they interpret it as exclusively cipline recalcitrant member interpret it as exclusively an economic France, the Netherlands, Austria and Estonia. Its wisdom is greatly by losing sight of the essen- pause and re-examine the confidence and identity. tury, St Thomas Aquinas in his writings leading. Once the spiritual an economic preoccupation: states in the east, Brussels preoccupation: to promote markets. open to challenge. Money-printing in the current fiscal context does tial tenets of the philosophy When did conservatism produced what amounted to a codifica- consensus had been broken, officials cite “Enlighten- Simultaneously and without any appar- not appear a sensible or liability-free solution to Eurozone prob- they profess to champion, roots of conservatism originate? Conceivably tion of proto-conservatism. Although so that Christianity no lon- to promote markets. ment values” like sacred ent sense of contradiction they pro- lems. Already, commentators are talking about the “Japanification of have arguably done their there were died-in-the-wool his chief preoccupation was theological, ger spoke with a single voice, scripture. claim themselves ‘socially liberal’. Since Europe”, a term with discouraging implications. cause more harm than good. trived social contract notion of society, intransigents who deplored the tran- there was an inevitable socio-political it was inevitable that a parallel schism ies”, which was an accurate description Why? Why is a movement that politics is about the organization of Brexit, another concern, is a failure on the part of the EU. Brussels In many European countries today, Edmund Burke defined society as “a sition from Bronze Age to Iron Age; sub-text to the philosophy of Thomism. would emerge in the political sphere. A since they were reacting to a devastat- was purely speculative and subjec- society, to be socially liberal is to be lib- officials are open to the charge of having provoked the UK’s depar- individuals and political parties that partnership not only between those but this seems unlikely. When society Aquinas, it has been said, “baptized” religious fault-line ran through Europe, ing experience. tive unchallengeable after two and a eral tout court. ture by refusing to give David Cameron the reasonable concessions he call themselves “conservative” have who are living, but between those who is primitive and limited in ideas and Aristotle’s ideas. His Natural Law the- opening the way to dissent of every Was that not a reasonable response half centuries of experiencing, from Conservatives need to find a richer needed to win a referendum. Since then, a misguidedly punitive policy embraced a mélange of ideas that are are living, those who are dead, and those technology, progressive change is gen- sis breathed a soul into concepts that kind. A divided Christianity bred scep- to revolution? Did they not have a point a conservative perspective, its neg- philosophical hinterland than the towards the UK, ‘pour encourager les autres’, has endangered future not only incoherent but often contra- who are to be born” – a secular equiv- erally beneficial and legitimate. Only would later be called conservative. His ticism and ever more radical specula- in condemning charlatans like Jean- ative consequences? Is it forever to wasteland of postmodernism. If the EU-UK relations. In that context the appointment of Phil Hogan, a for- dictory. They have lost sight of authen- alent of the Christian doctrine of the when society has attained a certain level rejection of egalitarianism, support for tion, culminating in the 18th century in Jacques Rousseau who wrote modern place a firewall between contemporary European Union is to be revitalized and mer Irish minister and reportedly close ally of Leo Varadkar, as trade tic conservatism. In practical terms that Communion of Saints. Its marginaliza- of sophistication and complexity may social hierarchy, insistence that free- the so-called Enlightenment. Europe’s supposedly seminal work on thought and the past? Surely conserva- remoulded constructively in a conser- commissioner may not augur well for post-Brexit negotiations. is partly due to the speed and superfici- tion from modern conservatism has left change threaten institutions, customs dom was inseparable from inalienable It is from that moment of extrava- education, while consigning his own tives have a duty to reappraise a phe- vative direction, its aspiring regenera- The new Commission has a responsibility to mend fences with many ality of modern communication, with a gaping hole at the centre of an ideol- and interests widely perceived as being property rights, respect for tradition gant iconoclasm that conservatism, in children to an orphanage? And while the nomenon that set Europe on a path of tors must rediscover their identity. The member states and to bring the political nous which is clearly its prin- soundbites, headlines and social media ogy that has lost coherence. of proven worth. That is when the urge and wary recognition that change could the modern sense, derives. Present-day one unassailable intellect of the period, continuous radicalization. In the words first step towards that end is to reac- cipal asset to bear on the issues that must be resolved to restore equi- comment churned out with little intel- To restore intellectual integrity to to conserve is activated. produce evil consequences as well as conservatives have to ask themselves Adam Smith, was a brilliant economic of an American commentator, John quaint themselves with their history, librium to the EU. The future of the European Union depends on the ligent analysis. their beliefs and aspirations for society Some have plausibly regarded Aris- good – these were beliefs intrinsic to all a serious question: is the fashion- theorist, might he not have been capable Daniel Davidson: “Maybe the only way so a series of articles on conservative success of that endeavour. ■ In philosophical terms the problem is the urgent task facing European con- totle as the father of European con- future conservative movements. able, politically correct narrative of of producing The Wealth of Nations inde- forward is to go back and rediscover the thinkers will follow, drawn mostly from arises from the schism that has occurred servatives. After decades of freewheel- servatism. They cite his empirical Those principles were broadly the Enlightenment as Europe’s Great pendently of the philosophical vapour- things we left behind at the dawn of the mainland Europe, but beginning inevi- between traditional conservatism and a ing it is time to pause and re-examine observation of political reality rather respected for the first millennium and a Leap Forward either intellectually ings emanating from France? Enlightenment.” tably with Edmund Burke. ■ 12 COMMENTARY theconservative.online theconservative.online COMMENTARY 13

he new European Commis- meeting of G20 finance ministers and sion has yet to be sworn central bankers set for October 17 in in but the battle lines are EU ready for Washington. The OECD’s officials already being drawn up for have been working with policy-mak- How should conservatives respond Tan EU-wide digital tax aimed at Silicon ers in more than a hundred countries Valley’s Big Tech. to discover what sort of tax arrange- Within days of being appointed CLASH WITH BIG TECH ments would be palatable to reach consensus. to the present age of populism? the new Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, warned he will over new digital tax That won’t be easy. The OECD’s go ahead with an EU digital “web tax” Pascal Saint-Amans, who is leading he world is going through an rather live?) All, though, chime with our Some wanted to preserve the purity of set about trying to convince individual targeting the world’s tech giants if global the negotiations as head of tax policy, angry and authoritarian spasm. hunter-gatherer instincts. their precepts, meeting occasionally at Conservative candidates and MPs. by Daniel Hannan MEP negotiations between the OECD and the by Maggie Pagano knows he has two tricky issues that Populists of Left and Right Small-government conservatives the Mont Pelerin Society and publishing They succeeded. Enoch Powell was T Sir Keith went on to win Margaret G20 fail to come up with a new proposal. need sorting: how to tax companies thrive by elevating grievances over should begin by recognising the lim- their tracts, rather in the manner of those one of the first to understand that Brit- In no uncertain terms, Gentiloni that are not taxed currently, and how to potential solutions. Liberal doctrines – its of their popularity. Classical liber- Irish monks who, at the edge of the known ain’s post-war problems were largely Thatcher to his new creed. But let’s not declared that the EU is no longer “pre- reallocate tax assessment rights. The free trade, low taxes, private enterprise als tend to be slightly to the left of the world, painstakingly copied out Christian the result of bloated government, and delude ourselves: he and she were only pared to wait.” second is the creation of a minimum – are being squeezed by tribalism and centre of gravity on cultural issues, and texts during the Dark Ages. But Ralph saw he was soon joined by Geoffrey Howe, ever the mahouts, never the elephant. That’s street-fighting talk from the tax on profits. identity politics. well to its right on economic issues. no point in doctrines that were not imple- Nick Ridley and others. They could steer the mighty pachyderm usually mild-tempered former Ital- Saint-Amans has admitted that the There is an ugly element of They – we – can achieve a great deal mented, even if patchily and messily. The breakthrough came with the win- as long as it was content to move; but, ian prime minister. It’s certainly a big first challenge is to make a company Führerprinzip in the air, too. Followers as part of a broader ning over of Sir ultimately, the elephant was carrying change of tone – some might say an taxable in a country even when it is not of Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump conservative alli- Keith Joseph, a them, not the other way around. overly ambitious one – considering the physically present. It’s a goal that can have at least this much in common: that ance. But we are only brilliant intellec- Purely libertarian parties – ACT in spectacular failure of the EU’s earlier only be reached if companies are made they will follow their leader through ever the riders on tual who until then New Zealand, say, or Gary Johnson in plans for a web tax which were dropped to pay a bigger share of its global profits 180 degree rotations, clinging to some the back of an ele- Small-government conservatives should had been a text- the United States – have never risen late last year after some member states to the country where its market and cli- past position against what they imag- phant. That great book paternalis- above single figures. When free-mar- blocked the move. ents are. For example, allowing France ine to be hostile media even after their beast is impelled by begin by recognising the limits of their tic Tory, chiefly keteers spend their time arguing about But Gentiloni’s threats will be backed to tax foreign digital firms. principal has climbed down. As the forces that have lit- interested in the pornography and drugs, they sound to the hilt by Margrethe Vestager, oth- The second is to work out how a min- popularity of interventionist policies tle to do with eco- popularity. Classical liberals tend to be social work that eccentric. When they argue about frac- erwise known as Silicon’s Valley tor- imum global tax on profits would work. grows, so does impatience with consti- nomics: patriotism, slightly to the left of the centre of gravity he carried out tional reserve banking and a return to mentor-in-chief. Vestager, who is now It is understood that the proposals are tutional constraints and the demand for distrust of official- through a fam- the gold standard, they still sound dis- the EU’s second most powerful woman such that if a company operates abroad a strongman. dom, resentment of on cultural issues, and well to its right ily trust. Reading tant from most people’s concerns. after president, Ursula von der Leyen, – and this activity is taxed in a country How should free-market conserva- political correctness on economic issues. They – we – can Hayek and Fried- But when they concentrate on the has been reappointed Commissioner with a rate below the minimum – the tives respond? Many of our doctrines, and so on. The wise man, and listening areas where they agree with traditional for competition but also has a new country where the firm is based could after all, are counter-intuitive, running mahout can steer the achieve a great deal as part of a broader to Alfred Sherman conservatives – welfare reform, tax cuts, role as executive vice-president with recover the difference. up against millions of years of evolu- animal to a degree; and Anthony school choice, Euroscepticism, prop- the grand title of being in charge of a Whether the OECD can come up with tion. The claims made by protectionists, but he cannot make conservative alliance. Fisher, Sir Keith erty rights – they can achieve extraordi- “Europe fit for the digital age.” proposals that are acceptable to all the whether of the Corbynite/socialist or it move against its was transformed. nary things, as Margaret Thatcher and It’s an enormous role, one that EU member states is impossible to tell. Trumpian/nationalist variety, have will. The problem was that, in those “It was only in April 1974 that I was con- Ronald Reagan did. Vestager will take on with alacrity if her What is known is that past relations been proved false a thousand times. But Perhaps the most influential classi- days, neither of the two big parties was verted to Conservatism,” as he later put it. Conservatism is an instinct, not an past record of beating up tech giants between the OECD and the EU do not they feel plausible. “We can’t carry on cal liberal in Britain during the second friendly to classical liberalism. Clem- “I had thought I was a Conservative but I ideology. The elephant has a power- like Apple and Google is anything to augur well. Previous attempts at work- with a trade deficit!” “We need to pro- half of the 20th century was Ralph Har- ent Attlee’s Labour was unapologeti- now see that I was not really one at all.” ful, though unspecific, sense of where it go by. With her new powers to set the ing together have been marred by com- tect strategic industries!” “We can’t ris, who founded the Institute of Eco- cally socialist, of course, and was busily Except that he had been. His previous wants to go. It is moved, not by any phi- EU’s broader policy on the digital area, It’s not surprising that the EU’s failure to agree on a digital tax petition, and indeed animosity, over compete with slave-wage economies!” nomic Affairs. Shortly before he died, he engaged in nationalising the means of views had been squarely in the tradi- losophy, but by what Disraeli called “the you can be sure she will be even more led President Emmanuel Macron to introduce a new levy on tech policy. “We should be self-sufficient in food!” told me something quite extraordinary. production. But Churchill’s Tories were tion of One Nation Toryism – the prag- sublime instincts of an ancient people”. of a vocal critic of what is perceived as Stef Van Weeghel, global tax policy All these ideas lead, over time, to pov- After the 1950 election, which had seen hardly free-marketeers. My party, at matic tradition of Benjamin Disraeli Don’t jab your goad into that great beast: the unfair tactics of the FAANG compa- giants like Google and Amazon. Nor was it surprising that the leader at PwC and Professor of Interna- erty. (Singapore imports all its food, the obliteration of the Liberal Party, he that time, was imperialist, paternalist and Stanley Baldwin, of Randolph and that won’t end well for you. Rather, coax nies – the Facebook, Apple, Amazon and tional Law at the University of Amster- water and electricity, while North Korea and a handful of free-marketeers had and mildly protectionist. Winston Churchill, of Harold Macmil- it, encourage it, whisper into its vast ear Google tech monsters. move threatened an all-out trade war between France and the US dam, hopes the OECD will be able to has elevated self-sufficiency – juche – as debated how to inject their ideas into Still, Ralph and his allies regarded it lan and R.A. Butler, of David Cameron and, if your arguments are as good as you Yet Vestager’s crusade for a more after President Trump said he would retaliate by raising taxes on find a consensus that meets approval its supreme principle. Where would you the mainstream. as the more promising of the two, and and Theresa May. believe they are, it will respond. ■ equitable tax regime might also set with the EU. her on a collision course with some of French imports like wine. But Weeghel is not sanguine about the EU’s member states. If there is one the outcome: “Achieving a fair taxa- subject that EU members, particularly 13 billion euros in back taxes from of corporation tax in the country of Trump’s threats appear to have paid tion policy across the EU is riven with smaller countries such as Luxembourg, Apple. operation has become acutely political off. Indeed, there are suggestions that politics. Countries do not want to give Ireland and to some extent, the Nether- Yet having the ability to cut corpora- and led to widespread public outrage. the potential skirmish was smoothed up their tax policies. But it is import- lands, don’t like being lectured on, it’s tion tax has been, for countries such as So it’s not surprising that the EU’s fail- over at the recent G7 meeting at Biar- ant there is a positive outcome because A multitrack Europe is the best their tax affairs. Ireland, a huge boost to their economy. ure to agree on a digital tax led President ritz. Officials from both countries are businesses need certainty.” A member state’s flexibility to set By offering lower tax rates to attract Emmanuel Macron to introduce a new said to have come to some form of And if these tech companies are to national tax rates and play tax arbi- tech firms such as Apple, they have been levy on tech giants like Google and Ama- agreement that France would refund stay operating in the EU, taxes must be fair. As Jean Baptist Colbert, the French tonic to anti-EU sentiment trage is to many countries a question of able to create thousands of jobs. zon. Nor was it surprising that the move any levies if there is a future interna- national status and an emotive one. It’s But for countries such as France, Italy threatened an all-out trade war between tional agreement. finance minister under King Louis X1V, also a potentially explosive one: Ire- and Germany – which drove the EU’s France and the US after President So what happens next? The OECD remarked: “The art of taxation consists uropean political circles have they didn’t trust either Cameron or massive influx of refugees and Brexit, and from non-core members who fear land is fighting against an order from digital tax proposals – allowing Google Trump said he would retaliate by raising is due to publish the outlines of a plan in so plucking the goose as to get the been discussing the concept EU officials. However, a formal treaty now is the time to focus on the future they will be treated as second class by Ben Kelly Vestager herself to claw back a record and Amazon to not pay their fair share taxes on French imports like wine. in mid-October, ahead of the next most feathers with the least hissing.” ■ E of a “two-speed” or multitrack that had formalised the UK’s semi-de- and work towards a vision of a more status members. Despite these valid Europe for years. Intended to pre- tached membership and exempted it integrated core union which will concerns, it seems inevitable that encourages economic and political vent the enlargement process diluting from “ever closer union” could have necessitate the creation of a multitrack there will be further integration of convergence with non-member states. progress towards an “ever closer union turned a close vote. This move would Europe. the monetary union and the creation This may lead in the future to a “three among the peoples of Europe”, it has have gone some way to neutralising The EU will face more crises in the of new institutions to drive that. This speed” Europe consisting of the federal never come to fruition. concerns of the UK being part of a future, and it will be better equipped will create a de facto two-tier Europe core, EU members outside monetary A multitrack EU has positives – single European which will need for- union and associated partners outside it would allow the core members to “super state”. malising in a new of the political union. integrate further with other less will- Now a more treaty. This may, in turn, lead to the cre- ing states allowed to move at a slower severe separa- If the EU is to ation of an “associate membership” rate and remain in a looser associa- tion than was nec- Brexit should inspire a more learn anything from status to form a privileged partner- tion. By allowing less unity, Europe essary is on the Brexit, it should be ship with countries, like Britain, that will ultimately be more united because cards, to the det- imaginative neighbourhood policy built that it needs more are unwilling to implement the acquis it considers the varying desires of its riment of both flexibility to accom- and accept all the obligations of full member states. sides. around dynamic association agreements modate the varying membership. With each major step forward in Although Brexit designed to foster a closer partnership objectives and pri- This reformed, multitrack Europe integration, the concept has become is undoubtedly a orities of its mem- will no doubt become the focus of more important, but it has remained blow to the proj- that evolves over time and encourages bers. A flexible, the inevitable re-accession campaign a mere concept, to be discussed and ect, there is a silver economic and political convergence multitrack Europe in Britain, which now has an impas- never actioned. The Euro created a lining for Euro- is necessary if the sioned pro-EU movement inspired multitrack Europe in practice, but pean federalists. with non-member states. EU is to revive its by Brexit. However, Euroscepticism KYIV • UKRAINE despite decades of theorising it has It’s already evi- enlargement pro- remains a strong and persistent part never been formalised. Brexit has dent that Brexit cess and renew its of British culture and many politi- proven this oversight to have been a has strengthened the identity and soli- to navigate them if it can respond like faltering neighbourhood policy, which cal incompatibilities remain. For a terrible mistake. darity of the EU, which is already func- a state, with joint institutions and is essential to managing its new part- viable and sustainable UK member- If a multitrack Europe has been tioning in many ways more like a state. coherent decision making. This means nership with Britain. ship of the EU to be achieved in the legally formalised in a treaty, would Far from being a contagion, Brexit may a more federal core union, with reluc- Brexit should inspire a more imag- future, Britain itself would need to Brexit have happened? Many British be a vaccination against further sepa- tant member states left in the outer inative neighbourhood policy built be reformed. The years of difficul- th th politicians and voters were uncon- ratist movements. circle. around dynamic association agree- ties caused by the “British problem” ECRPARTY.EU • @ECRPARTY 7 - 10 November 2019 vinced by the promises within David After a decade in which the EU has There will be objections to this ments designed to foster a closer part- and the trauma of Brexit may well be Cameron’s renegotiation because faced the crisis in the eurozone, a from hardcore European federalists nership that evolves over time and remembered for years to come. ■ 14 CULTURE theconservative.online theconservative.online CULTURE 15

David Cameron’s For the record David Cameron should stop beating himself up In search of younger brother. The assumption – on dominant leader in Europe will ensure they disliked excessive EU integration, Britain’s former Prime Minister is a man Cameron’s part anyway – seems to have that the renegotiation with the EU 27 when asked. No-one can say the vot- scarred by defeat in the Brexit referendum, been that Gove would respect the code produces enough of substance to sat- ers didn’t care. On a high turnout, 17.4m of the Tory moderniser brotherhood, isfy British voters worried, at that point, Britons said Leave. Camilleri’s but in his new memoir he is far too hard on pull himself together and in the end do about the migration crisis. As usual, At some point the question of Brit- as David Cameron wanted. Gove broke Merkel fails to rise to the historic chal- ain’s status in the EU was going to be himself about the consequences away because he had his own views and lenge. The EU concedes a little, but not tested and needed to be resolved even- ambitions and placed them above per- enough to give Cameron a winning hand tually. It is not Cameron’s fault that his master detective sonal loyalty. That’s politics. in the referendum he loses in June 2016. successors as Tory leaders have, so far, by Iain Martin On Boris Johnson, Cameron also The unravelling of these three key made such an awful mess of getting a expresses hurt in For the Record when relationships – Gove, Boris and Merkel – deal with the EU. n the run-up to the Scottish refer- making a quick-witted joke, taking a rare his friend plumps for Brexit and fronts is the backdrop to the concluding chap- I mentioned a personal story at the ter of a book titled, gloomily, “The End.” beginning that perhaps puts Cameron Salvo Montalbano… endum of 2014 I was sitting in the compliment and then flippantly and Vote Leave, although he seems more House of Commons café area at amusingly discarding it, leaving a faint street-wise and realistic when assessing By that point Cameron is beating in a poor light and then analysed several Like Holmes and Conan Doyle, Andrea Camilleri and Montalbano I himself up no end, as though pleading misjudgements. Who is without flaws? Portcullis House, chatting to a friend impression of carelessness in the per- the Johnson approach. As he watches from the BBC in Scotland and generally ception created. Boris withdraw from the leadership race for readmission into polite society. The But there is much to praise about this will go down in history as one of the great literary double-acts minding my own business. We were dis- That theme – a tendency for Cam- in 2016, after Gove decided to run him- decisions he made that led to Brexit book and the man. Many politicians cussing some aspect of David Cameron’s eron at times to misread people, or cause him to reflect every single day, he shed friends on the way to the top. Cam- premiership when my colleague told me even worse at times to fatally misun- says. I really hope that is not true. It is eron stuck with his dearest friends, mak- by Robert Fox to look up. I could, he said, ask the man derstand their motives – runs through a waste of energy and a first-rate brain, ing time for them – as they explained to himself. Cameron strode over, break- For the Record, the highly entertaining because his most vocal critics will never me with delight – in office. In power, ing out of the little procession of power, and well-crafted account of his life and forgive him. Appalled British Remain- he was always comfortable in the role ndrea Camilleri, who died an obsessive taste for good food with the The original twenty-seven novellas – advisers and bag carriers in his wake, career, published earlier this month. ers blame him for holding a referendum and maintained a sense of humour. He this August at the age of 93, future Salvo Montalbano. one is yet to come – are written to a tight to make a point about the campaign to He seems most baffled and hurt when that produced the wrong result, which managed to leave Number 10 not hav- often grumbled that he was In 1994, the first Montalbano novel formula: eighteen chapters of ten pages keep Scotland in the United Kingdom. Michael Gove decides to campaign for they believe signalled the end of civil- ing been driven mad by it, unlike many being monstered by the suc- was released, The Shape of Water, and each. The touch of genius, according to Among pro-Union commentators and the Leave side in the 2016 referendum isation, because it is easier than trying of those before him. cessA of his great creation, Commissa- it became an instant hit. Camilleri’s Cesare Bocci, who plays Inspector Aug- journalists there had been, said Cam- on Britain’s membership of the Euro- to understand why they lost in the first Once the Brexit emergency has sub- rio Salvo Montalbano, top cop in the creation was a runaway success. At one ello, “is in the dialogue. The books are eron, a lot of stuff which suggested that pean Union. His decision was preceded place. sided, his premiership and party lead- not-quite fictitious port of Vigata, Sic- point, his books occupied all six of the like scripts – the chat in Sicilian and he was lax and devoting insufficient by Cameron and George Osborne get- Some of his critics talk of him as ership will deserve to be seen in a much ily. Indeed, after twenty-seven novel- top places in the Italian fiction best- Italian come straight off the page – they attention to winning the vote triggered ting Gove into Number 10 and trying to though he is a criminal. It is mad. He better light. The public finances were a las and a clutch of short stories, and as sellers list. don’t need touching when we come to by his decision to accede to Nationalist persuade him not to be so silly. hasn’t committed any crime. Losing a mess after the Gordon Brown era and many films for television, Montalbano Salvo makes an inauspicious entrance the filming.” demands for a referendum that autumn. “Michael seemed torn - and really referendum, letting the voters decide, Cameron took a range of difficult but is one of the great detectives of world onto the world stage at the close of the The other touch of genius is the set- Unionists needed to be assured – he said pained by the fact,” writes Cameron. is a perfectly noble course. Much worse broadly right decisions on the econ- literature, with fame to match Sherlock first chapter of The Shape of Water. ting of old and new Sicily, mostly old – that in 2014 for him, as PM, there was “I found it hard to believe what was has happened in democratic politics. omy. Education reform under him was a Holmes or Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. Two beachcombers have discovered a Sicily – baroque palaces, the occasional no higher priority than keeping Scot- happening. Michael was a close confi- Cameron did not start disastrous major major success. Camilleri and Montalbano have done body in an abandoned car. They don’t classical and medieval ruin; the ancient land as part of the UK. dent. Part of my inner team. Someone I wars or almost bankrupt the country. On his electoral record, it is worth more for the image of Sicily than any want to report it to the Carabinieri sta- colonnade at Selinunte and the Greek At various points in Cameron’s lead- turned to for advice. Why hadn’t he told The hysteria extends to Brexit pointing out that after a long period other two individuals in the past cen- tion because it is commanded by a Mil- temples of Agrigento. Today there are ership I had been critical – as a newspa- me this before?” more broadly. European civilisation during which it was said widely that the tury and more. Because of the books anese. “The Vigata police inspector, on special tours to the Montalbano sites at per columnist – of his decisions. But on Cameron acknowledges that Gove is ancient, around 2,500 years old. In British Tories, ruined under Sir John and films, which illuminate the island’s the other hand, was from Catania, a cer- Scicli, Modica, and Noto. You can stay at Scotland I had written a few days before was a Eurosceptic, but despite years of contrast, the European Union is a fluc- Major, would never be back in office, landscape, the food and wine, new visi- tain Salvo Montalbano, who, when he Montalbano’s apartment on the coast that Cameron had, in strategic terms, conversation he seems to have failed tuating set of governing relationships and certainly not in a majority adminis- tors have come by the million. Tourism wanted to get to the bottom of some- on the Lido di Ragusa at Punto Secco played a blinder, that is on this he was to grasp the full extent of it or what self, Cameron texts him: “Should have and alliances less than forty years old. tration, he served for six years as Prime increased in Syracuse and Ragusa by thing, he did.” and even seek out his favou- making sensible decisions and doing that meant in terms of his friend’s cri- stuck with me, mate.” Europe will weather changes. Once the Minister and won the 2015 general rite gastronomic haunt, well. sis of conscience. Gove was not just Ultimately, I fear the former Tory current excitement settles down, Brit- election. He also won that referendum Da Enzo at Vigata. A few The Prime Minister looked taken quite Eurosceptic, like Cameron. Gove leader misses the essential point that ain will end up with a fairly close rela- in Scotland too, and held together the years back Camilleri’s aback to hear that I had praised him on was hugely Eurosceptic, privately and Gove and Johnson are both, at heart, tionship with its friends and neighbours. United Kingdom. birthplace Porto Empe- something, anything. He hadn’t seen at times publicly one of the most con- mischief-making journalists operating Indeed, Cameron’s central judgement It is said now that the Union between Camilleri and Montalbano have done docle changed its name that article, he indicated. There was sistently Eurosceptic figures in British with a different mindset from Cameron, on the European question and on hold- Scotland and England is imperilled to Porto Empedocle so much journalism these days and so politics and media of the previous two a leader with a very particular ethic and ing a British referendum turned out to anew by Brexit. Perhaps it is, although I more for the image of Sicily than any – Vigata, by mayoral Montalbano nods, – una cosa da delinquere.” much to read that eventually it all – crit- decades. a quite traditional public service notion be absolutely correct, even if the cam- recommend taking a longer view. After other two individuals in the past century decree; the road sign is says he has learned Camilleri has taken steps to remedy icism, praise – blurred into one, he said. At no point does it seem to occur to of hierarchy that comes with a presump- paign he ran was ineffective. the difficulty Britain has had unravel- there to prove it. two things, then walks the buonista charge. He has left a book That’s perfectly true, and I remember Cameron that another aspect of their tion of automatic loyalty to those at the He grasped that the question had not ling itself from the EU, the idea of Scot- and more. Because of the books and The squares and balco- away. with Sellerio, not to be released until laughing, but as a remark – you journal- relationship could be in play too. Gove – top. been put properly to the British voters land untangling itself from the much nies are deliberately set up Another glorious and after his death. Either then or in a sub- ists and your articles all blur into one – it an intensely academic and polite figure Fatally, in his renegotiation attempt since 1975. At each major treaty change deeper Union with England will not be films, which illuminate the island’s with an air of unreality – almost a rather late addition to the sequent short story, Salvo meets his is still probably not the wisest thing for a – clearly admired Cameron a great deal, Cameron makes a different mistake it was avoided and integration achieved an easy sell to Scots. If the UK survives, landscape, the food and wine, new fantasy theatre set. “There are no parked television series is the singing and end – no Reichenbach Falls recovery for party leader to say to a journalist. but their friendship was by its nature and misreads Angela Merkel, Germa- by deception. Of course, the subject – and Brexit is concluded, I hope people cars, and road signs – it is all to drive occasional presence of Olivia Sellerio him. “Sherlock Holmes was retrieved,” I mention the encounter because it unequal. Cameron and Osborne were ny’s Chancellor, overestimating her the EU – had low salience with British will look back on David Cameron as a visitors have come by the million. the drama and focus on the characters,” – whose deep throaty rendition of folk Camilleri told an interviewer in 2012, stuck in my mind as typical Cameron, the older brothers dealing with a geeky power and resolve. The hope is that the voters but they were consistent in saying pretty decent Prime Minister. ■ according to Luca Zingaretti. Towns songs opens and closes each episode. “but not Montalbano. In that last book forty per cent in the two years follow- Montalbano is a bit of a loner, always like Noto, Ragusa, Scicli and Modica are She is now a star in her own right, as is he’s really finished.” ing the release of the first two film pro- clashing with those in authority. more than worth a visit. Huge efforts the publishing house – Sellerio editore The relationship was getting testy. ductions of the Montalbano series, The Camilleri soon began to use the nov- have been made to restore the fabric of Palermo – she and her brother inherited In Camilleri’s short story, Montalbano Shape of Water, and The Terracotta Dog. els to attack politicians, corrupt func- dozens of sites. I would recommend par- from her parents Elvira and Enzo. Sell- Refuses, the detective pursues two young “It has had a huge effect,” I am told tionaries and judges. Billionaire prime ticularly Palazzolo Acreide. It is a jewel erio remains the Montalbano publisher, rapists. After murdering their victim, by Alessandro, manager of L’Eremo a minister Silvio Berlusconi was always a on a high escarpment – across the ravine selling millions of copies. they propose roasting her eyes – but hotel in a converted monastery just favourite target. a miniature basilica seems to have been Alongside Camilleri, Sellerio pub- before they can act, the detective phones south of Ragusa. Room 11 in his hotel In the television series, Luca Zinga- slipped by shoehorn into a chink in the lishes novels by crime writers Gianrico the author. He says he hates the story, was the setting of one of the first mur- retti portrays Montalbano with great granite cliffs. Carofiglio and Maurizio de Giovanni. and he resigns – “this isn’t my thing and ders in the series – and is itself a point subtlety. He was a star pupil in the act- Camilleri told his father he couldn’t They are too far more than poliziottes- you have made a stronzata of it.” of pilgrimage. “The quality of tourism, ing academy, and has a crucial part in write straightforward cop stories in chi action dramas. There is something The author tries to excuse himself the food and produce have all bene- shaping the drama and staging along Italian, so invented an ingenious amal- of the Gary Cooper at High Noon about because critics say he is a buonista with fited and the new local wines aren’t bad with director Alberto Sironi. Round gam of Sicilian dialect and Italian. The Salvo Montalbano and his compatriots sugary tales, and only with an eye on either. You may remember Vittoria just him is a circus of fedelissimi, his dep- Sicilian actors and extras speak the lan- Pietro Fenoglio of Carofiglio’s Bari, and royalties. He says he has to get modern a few miles from here from your travels uty Inspector Mimi Augello, an inveter- guage with a peculiar directness. Among Commissario Ricciardi in De Giovanni’s and “spreading so much blood on paper in the sixties. It was pretty much a dump ate donnaiuolo (skirt chaser) played by the finest cameos are the encounters brilliant depiction of fascist Naples. doesn’t harm anyone.” then – now it has two of the best restau- Cesare Bocci and their younger sidekick between Montalbano and the old patri- Camilleri himself was sensitive to the Salvo stands his ground. “For me rants around.” Vittoria with its grand Inspector Giuseppe Fazio, portrayed arch of the Sinagra, one of the two local charge that he was buonista – a goody- Salvo Montalbano is this story’s cosi, Baroque main piazza and facades is a by the timeless Peppino Mazzotta, who Mafia clans. Balduccio Sinagra, bril- goody always allowing the good guys to and not that. Mr Boss (Padronissimo), favourite Montalbano location. once ran his own acting company in liantly played by Francesco Sineri, an win. He rarely allows the Mafia to take you talk of writing differently: well then It began almost by accident. Andrea Calabria. old stage professional, summons Mon- centre stage although the wars of the go and invent another protagonist. Do I Camilleri was in his mid-sixties when he Frequently Camilleri himself has talbano to an audience to request pro- Sinagra and the Cuffaro are the back- make myself clear?” retired from a successful career as a film been present for shooting. The com- tection for his grandson. In the simple ground to almost every story. “Very clear. But then how do I finish FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT and theatre director. He had a stab at writ- pany decamps to Ragusa for months, grandeur of the terrace at the Don- Like his great friend and mentor this story?” ing historical novels, one winning a prize, scoping locations and auditioning local nafugata Palace (as in The Leopard) he Leonardo Sciascia, Camilleri knows it “Like this,” says the Commissario. newdirection.online/event/dubrovnik but gave up. He had invented Montal- actors. He has also helped with the explains what it is to be “A Man of Hon- – La Cosa, the thing – is always there. And he hangs up. bano for stories to tell at his dying father’s scripts of the 2012 spin-off show Young our.” “A line has to be drawn,” says the “From the day of my birth,” Leonardo The world will surely not hang up bedside, taking the name from Manuel Montalbano, which ran for twelve epi- ancient capo, “an agreement between Sciascia told me a few months before on Salvo Montalbano and his creator – APA and EP Parliamentary staff should not apply for EP mission allowances whilst participating in ND activities. New Direction FPEU is registered in Belgium as a not-for-profit organisation and partially funded by the European Parliament. The European Parliament assumes no responsibility for facts or opinions published here or during the Academy. Vazquez Montalban, a Catalan detective sodes with Michele Riondino in the men who must be men, but if they cross he died, “Mafia was part of the air I twin immortals like Holmes and Conan writer whose hero Pepe Carvalho shared title role. the line they become beasts of the field.” breathed. It was always for the bad Doyle. ■ 16 CULTURE theconservative.online theconservative.online CULTURE 17

Tom Holland’s Dominion – How Christianity changed the world LOST CLASSIC Can Western culture survive without Christianity? The revolutionary character of the Gospel gave us civilised life, argues We see Christianity at its best – but also by Luigi Barzini leading historian Tom Holland The Italians at its worst – and, over two thousand Lost Classic presents great works of art that are under-appreciated or forgotten by Marcus Walker years, are shown the recurring patterns of thought and debate out of which has by Toby Guise om Holland’s latest work Domin- torture ever devised by man, who trans- come all that which we, in the twenty- f you are going to Italy this masterpiece of cynicism. Never trust were not going to miss out. And so, the bands which had protected the large in the modern world. All men are ion is a revolutionary book. It formed the way in which human beings year – even for the tenth time anyone outside your family; never English family departs Tuscany, leav- estates. Resistant to the new authority inclined to serve their private interests asks us to overturn our thinking saw God and each other; and it was Paul first century West, value most... – you need a copy of Luigi Bar- speak plainly; use powerful friends and ing an irreparable hole in the social being imposed from the north, these and forget moral duties. Nevertheless, T fabric. became the “primordial and Arcadian good Mafia men still exists: those who about our twenty-first century world who realised the enormity of this event zini’s 1964 book The Italians. flattery at all times. Align yourself to the almost completely. This is apt, for this is and crystallised it with his catchphrase He takes us through the atheist revo- plantations of the West Indies, they IThat Barzini should have written his quality of the furbo – cunning man – not Illusion and reality entwine most form of the mafia, with its mixture want, above all, to be helpful to others. also a book about a revolution – a revo- – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor lutions (of France, Communist Russia, wrought their own destruction. The dia- masterpiece in English is a clue to the credulous fesso (fool), who alone closely in his chapter on the Sicilian of ruthless brutality and noble senti- This they consider their mission in life.” lution which has been so successful that slave nor free, nor male nor female; but and Nazi Germany) and argues that they lectic which has run right through Chris- his unique perspective: Italian to his among Italians pays his taxes, keeps Mafia. The belated realisation of Machi- ments”. Barzini dissects these self-de- And so it is here – in the pit of Italy’s dark we have not only adopted its core revo- all are one in Christ Jesus.” fitted into a pattern of Christian thought tian history almost guarantees that fingertips, the great man was also a his word, and believes what he reads avelli’s dream of unification in 1871 lusions with a pitiless irony, as he maps heart and among its most famous export lutionary principles as our own but ret- Holland takes us on a canter through (universalist, utopian) and that, as fore- figures like Bartolomé de las Casas or Wil- US-trained foreign correspondent. in the papers. Barzini acknowledges forced underground the local armed the thoughts of an ageing mafioso of the – that the suspension of disbelief finally rospectively imposed them on every Western Christian history and shows seen by the Marquis de Sade and Fried- liam Wilberforce would rise up in outrage The resulting combination of gen- that any coun- old school: “The becomes complete. other era and culture and called them how the Christ Event overturned rich Nietzsche, when you remove God brandishing that same cross. This coun- tle self-mockery and vivid historical try – even Italy – good ones are Barzini’s message to the visitor is to universal. almost all of previous understandings from the equation, you lose what comes terreaction is, suggests Holland, a feature colouring has never been equalled. needs a minimum unfortunately recognise that Italy is so full of small Tom Holland’s expertise in ancient of the world, although you don’t feel you with the God of the Cross. You can preach unique to Christianity and one which we Central to his concern is revealing number of such getting scarcer. comforts because this is all its people history enables him colourfully to set the are being taken along too quickly. Each human rights all you like, but if humans cannot presume is found – or desired – in the paradoxical nature of the Ital- people in order Things are no can trust. Its culture has been worn scene of a world profoundly alien to ours period or theme is a well-constructed being has value because he or she is in have no intrinsic worth, it becomes any other school of thought. ian peninsular to the foreign reader. not to fall apart, longer what they down like a sea pebble, leaving ephem- – where human beings have no intrin- gobbet, featuring an illustrative char- the image and likeness of God; that laws acceptable (and desirable) to remove This is not a history. Although most of It is a country obsessed by beauty yet and foresees this were. More and eral beauty and pleasure as not only sic value and life is not just “nasty, brut- acter, and exploring the underlying apply to the poor as well as the rich; and those who get in the way of your utopian it is in the form and substance of a his- riven with violence; fiercely proud of moment approach- more men seem the highest but the only available vir- ish, and short” but is celebrated as such. philosophies and events which he or that the preserve of the sacred and the project, sometimes in industrial numbers. tory book, it is, in fact, a commentary on its culture yet deeply ashamed of its ing as their number bent on violat- tue. The same themes appear in later Into this blood-soaked world, where she illustrates. We see Christianity at its secular are not coterminous. Indeed, he He compares these revolutions to the our current age, and a controversial one incapacity; its collection of dazzling diminishes. ing the old rules books – notably John Hooper’s, also the norms that we think of as universal best – but also at its worst – and, over two shows how the underlying theories of Christian Empires and their sorry sto- at that. The question that runs through regions never adds up to the sum of its Yet – although merely to make called The Italians (likely in homage are very clearly absent, come our two thousand years, are shown the recur- the Copernican Revolution were essen- ries of evil and abuse. The difference, he every chapter, and is asked explicitly at parts. this furbezza may money for them- to Barzini and shared scepticism of heroes. The first is obvious: Christ; the ring patterns of thought and debate out tially (in the real meaning of the word) posits, is that despite the evil often being the end is this: most of what we value Indeed, like many Italians, Barzini be the underlying selves. It is not so the idea of “Italy”). Written almost second was St Paul. It is Christ, the Son of which has come all that which we, Christian, and overturned the Western committed in the name of the Cruci- as twenty-first century Westerners has treats anything beyond a purely geo- principle of Italian much the Mafia’s exactly 50 years later, it provides a of the Living God, suffering and dying on in the twenty-first century West, value (Aristotelian) and Eastern (Confucian) fied God, by placing that cross next to Christianity as its bedrock; can we sur- graphical definition of “Italy” with life – its enaction fault as that of perfect companion volume; showing one of the most appalling instruments of most: the knowledge that every human understandings of the Cosmos. the silver mines of Mexico or the slave vive without it? ■ some degree of scepticism. This is a requires mastering the times. Simi- the wounded splendour of Italy still country ruled not by national sentiment the most Olympian lar trends are vis- echoing forwards through the centu- but by the age-old principle of capalin- virtue of all: garbo. ible everywhere ries. ■ ismo, meaning loyalty to your local cam- This untrans- Chris Stokel-Walker’s YouTubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars panile – bell tower – and it emerges as latable quality the defining factor of Italy’s achieve- indicates a combi- ments and woes (it is still common to nation of appear- see rooms advertised in Italy only open ance, bearing and YouTube changed media YouTube is different to a conventional to locals). The dividends of the Renais- worldliness, which sance were driven not by cooperation sweeps all before forever and we are only media company: its reach is wider, but by the fierce internal loyalty and it. It is “the care- its diversity is broad, it demographic external mistrust of the city states. ful circumspec- Their competitiveness invited cata- tion with which just catching up younger, and its power stronger. clysms from which the country never one slowly changes recovered. First among these was when political allegiance This well-paced book is essential reading the warlord of Milan invited the French when things are and he bled out and died, aged 22. Perez Army into Italy in 1494; a guileful act by on the verge of for tech addicts, providing a vital insight returned to YouTube after serving time which he hoped to do down his rivals, becoming danger- in prison. Her videos are now viewed a which instead shattered the penin- ous; the tact with into one of the most important, and least couple of thousand times a day. sula with six decades of abasement at which unpleas- The algorithm, that collection of code the hands of foreign armies. And these ant news must be understood, digital platforms around that dictates which videos are pushed in were real armies, which scorched the announced; the front of us and why others disappear earth; nothing like the prancing con- grace with which by Charlotte Henry into the ether, also contributes to burn- dottiere who had once harmlessly sated the tailor cuts a out. Creators feel they can never stop the city states’ desire for glory. Within coat to flatter the feeding the beast. One YouTuber, called twenty years, Rome itself was subject to lines of the body; ouTube has made celebrities, original, exclusive polling. For exam- Lucy Moon, recalled being chased by a six-month ordeal of rape and destruc- the sympathetic and millionaires, of a host of ple, The Insights People surveyed a fan on Twitter when she took a brief tion; within thirty, the peninsula’s bit- caution with which young “creators” who produce 20,000 children and parents about their pause from posting videos. “The You- ter internal jealousies had turned on its agonising love Y affairs are finished videos and build a devoted global fan media usage for the book. They found Tuber’s dilemma,” Stockel-Walker richest jewel: Venice. base. Their presence can sell out are- that “one in 20 children aged 4-12 say explains, is that “the algorithm wanted Barzini accordingly offers a thrillingly off; the ability to nas and shut down shopping malls. The their parents never check what they’re her to post regularly, and she wanted detailed account of the events of 1494 – restore order to a likes of KSI and Jake Paul are some of watching,” demonstrating perfectly to be authentic but making and post- and, in the surrounding chapters, draws rebellious province the biggest stars in the world, accruing the lack of understanding older gen- ing videos so regularly was draining and out from them some central lessons of without provoking resentments.” millions of views and advertising dol- erations have about the YouTube phe- she felt she was giving up too much of Italian life. Foremost among these is a Foreigners should tread carefully. lars, but most people under the age of 25 nomenon and the risks their children provide brands with better value for herself.” comparison between the two great writ- Barzini lovingly records the typical have never heard of them. may be exposed to. YouGov, in further advertising money. One such micro-in- These young creators share every ers on statecraft who emerged from arc of experience of a foreigner mov- In his book YouTubers (Canbury exclusive research, found that a third fluencer is Eniyah Rana. She started aspect of their lives with fans who the period of the Italian Wars: Niccolo ing to the country; initially delighting Press, 2019), Chris Stokel-Walker of 18-24-year-olds who knew super- out on YouTube giving tips about wear- demand authenticity. Parents no longer Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. in how beautiful everything is and how Barzini’s message to the visitor is to tells the story of the platform – a cul- star YouTuber Zoella’s name said “that ing the hijab to fellow Muslim women. drive their children to football practice, In spite of his eponymous adjective, it is easily the tradesmen greet him (what recognise that Italy is so full of small tural phenomenon the effects of which they felt they knew her well,” highlight- Posting videos gave her a career and but set up cameras and edit video for the republican Machiavelli who is pre- a contrast with France!). Only gradu- we are only just beginning to appre- ing the connection many young people confidence, especially after an acri- them. Children as young as four begin sented as the hopeless idealist; forever ally does the realisation dawn that he comforts because this is all its people can ciate. He expertly explains how peo- feel they have with their favourite You- monious divorce. Stokel-Walker also posting videos and become stars on a dreaming of a unified Italy which could is being cosseted by a carefully-drawn trust. Its culture has been worn down like ple have grown to stardom and wealth, Tubers. Tellingly, many children these details how at all levels, far from just sit- site that knows almost no boundaries. It resist assault, and ending his life in exile. artifice. At best disillusionment sets and rightly describes the shift of adver- days desire to be a YouTuber more than ting in front of camera, YouTubers now all feels somewhat sordid, exploitative. The aristocratic Guicciardini, by con- in; at worse, the collision of underly- a sea pebble, leaving ephemeral beauty tiser dollars from traditional media to many other traditional professions, are running small businesses. Perhaps the only weakness in this trast, consolidates his position at the ing values leads to disaster. He proffers YouTube as “a revolution,” explaining: including a television presenter, Stokel- Of course, YouTube has a dark side, otherwise comprehensive work is top of society by never allowing his pri- the example of a high-minded English and pleasure as not only the highest but “YouTube is different to a conventional Walker notes. which Stokel-Walker illustrates neatly. that it doesn’t go into too much depth vate ideals – and religion – to inform his family who decide to provide for the the only available virtue. media company: its reach is wider, Not all of those who make videos He tells the story of how Monalisa Perez about other issues, such as the extrem- public choices. As such, the Guiccardi- welfare of their distraught maid when its diversity is broad, it demographic are as big as Zoella though, and YouTu- shot her boyfriend Pedro Ruiz for a stunt ism that can be found in some corners ni-Strozzi landholdings survived not just she falls pregnant. But, within weeks, younger, and its power stronger.” bers also looks at the different layers of he designed in a desperate bid for views, of YouTube. Overall, this well-paced the treacherous Medician period but are furious writs and lawsuits start arriv- Stokel-Walker is one of the best-in- these so-called influencers – the micro symptomatic of the slavish following of and deeply researched book is essential still producing wine to this day. ing from her family. They have arrived formed writers about YouTube around, and nano influencers who have smaller, the platform’s algorithm undertaken by reading, providing a vital insight into It is no surprise that Guicciardini at the only logical conclusion known having reported closely on it for but more dedicated, audiences than so many of its users. The bullet pene- one of the most important, and least reappears in the chapter “How to Suc- to them: the Englishman himself was years. He combines his expertise with the “elite” influencers and therefore trated the thick book Ruiz was holding understood, digital platforms around. ■ ceed” – and that this represents a the father. Having smelt money, they 18 CULTURE theconservative.online theconservative.online CULTURE 19

He is the son of famed space pioneer as the characters on screen are locked quite literally, universal – and neither Clifford McBride, who is believed dead in life-and-death struggle, the audience glamorises it nor makes it seem scuzzy. th after a mission to Neptune vanished is hard pressed to find more excitement He is helped by one of Pitt’s greatest European immigrants made 18 century London years before. The purpose of his mission than a solemn mood of contemplation. performances. Between this and Once was to discover whether there was other This, of course, is Gray’s intention. Upon A Time in Hollywood, this fine AD ASTRA intelligent life in the universe, and it He portrays his milieu extraordinarily actor is having a splendid year, and was believed to have failed, here he delivers an iconic per- CINEMATIC VOYAGES but mysterious energy surges formance, often in extreme appear to be emanating from close-up, which makes one CAPITAL OF THE WORLD LIKE THIS DO NOT COME the mission, which are threat- empathise with a character th ening life on earth as we know who, for most of the film, is The late 18 century was much more than ALONG TOO OFTEN it. McBride is therefore tasked a miserable and emotionally the era of John Bull, patriotic fervour with a dangerous and person- isolated loner. Brad Pitt stars in a sci-fi epic full of ally taxing journey, to see if his Apart from Pitt, there is and Imperial expansion – it was a period late father has left something good work from Sutherland as intelligence and ambition behind, or if the world is sim- an enigmatic fellow astronaut, of vibrant cultural exchange with the ply doomed. Jones as his missing father continent

Gray, whose last film The and, in tiny cameos, Tyler as Images - Getty Collector Print Photo: by Alexander Larman Lost City of Z starred a mis- Pitt’s estranged wife and Ruth by cast Charlie Hunnam but was Negga as a helpful scientist. If Alex Colville mid the myriad comic-book and Liv Tyler in support, it is probably otherwise terrific, is a very one was to criticise the film, it sci-fi films of the past few years, too esoteric and abstract for the main- underrated filmmaker. His would be for the lack of human n the popular imagination, the community of some 3,000 black men A there has been another genre stream, and, like many of Gray’s earlier earlier collaborations with interest; with the exception of 18th century is when Britain and women living in the capital, mainly existing alongside, catering to a, shall films, seems destined to remain a cult Joaquin Phoenix, including its lead, this is a picture that began being great. After emerg- filling the role of servants-cum-fashion we say, more grown-up audience. These curiosity. Yet it should be sought out We Own The Night (2007) and rhapsodises in the sense of ing from the chaos of the Stuarts, statements. Reynolds had a black man- films, which include Denis Villeneuve’s on the biggest screen if you can, possi- Two Lovers (2008), indicated the unknown, with vast vistas Ithe Hanoverians beckoned to power servant, as did Dr Johnson. Arrival (2016), Christopher Nolan’s bly with a glass of something strong to that he was a writer-director of inky black swimming into and plenty. It was the age of Whigs and Continental influence was there too. Interstellar (2014) and Alfonso Cuarón’s hand, and wallowed in. Cinematic voy- of unusual intelligence and view, accompanied by Max Tories debating the fate of an Empire A man was not considered sophisti- Gravity (2013), tend to treat space and ages like this do not come along too compassion, and this, by far Richter’s brilliant, mourn- and brave heroes sacrificed on the bat- cated if he had not taken a Grand Tour time travel in solemn, almost rever- often. his grandest and largest-scale ful score. Yet, by the end, this tlefields of Blenheim and Waterloo. In through France and Italy. Italian opera ent ways, with careful attention paid to The storyline owes something to work, finally allows him to criticism seems an unfair one. this story, Europe is only ever some- was high culture and German musicians how physics and philosophy might use- Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, as well, play at the level of his great It would be unfair to hint at thing to be freed from. But there is the finest to be had. Musicians, painters, fully complement one another. Thanks inevitably, to Coppola’s Apocalypse influences. Although Ad Astra what happens, but, eventu- another side to this tale, one where singers, dancers, sculptors and language to advances in modern technology, a Now (1979), but Gray’s influences are is nowhere near as cryptic or ally, what initially seems to be Europeans were our neighbours and tutors all braved the hair-raising storms talented filmmaker can now focus on rich and varied, including Malick’s Tree esoteric as The Tree of Life a superbly accomplished but allies, whose presence helped make of the Channel in pursuit of lucrative the enormity of space to mind-blowing of Life (2011), Kubrick’s 2001: A Space or 2001, it still moves slowly cold film reveals its emotional Britain’s fortunes. In an era of burgeon- profits. Mozart was among them, along effect. Odyssey (1968) and even Andrew Nic- by conventional sci-fi stan- core, and, for many, it will res- ing globalisation, London became a hot- with Haydn, Casanova (intent on mis- In the case of Ad Astra, directed by col’s horrendously underrated Gat- dards, and relies on inference onate very movingly indeed. bed of ambitious and talented European chief) and Jean-Paul Marat. Origi- the auteur James Gray, there is no doubt taca (1997). Major Roy McBride (Pitt) and suggestion rather than It is unlikely to be a box office immigrants. nally brought to London as a prisoner that this beautiful, deeply serious and is a talented and heroic astronaut who one-liners. It does feature some aston- effectively, setting his world around smash, but Ad Astra is that rare thing The union of Scotland and England in of war in 1758, Frenchman Dominic profoundly thoughtful film will attract nevertheless has a deep feeling of exis- ishing action set-pieces – a moon buggy two or three decades in the future – in our not-so-Marvellous age – a seri- 1707 was risky, both nations reluctant to Serres made a living by painting British an appreciative, mainly arthouse, audi- tential ennui, communicated to the chase, a zero-gravity fight that rivals where the Moon has been colonised and ous, grown-up film with something to overlook histories of near-constant war. naval victories against his own country- ence. Despite the starry presence of audience by a moody voiceover that Nolan’s Inception (2010) and virtually grinning tourists take selfies by plas- say, which does so with sombre integ- Scotsmen who fought for Britain in the men, even becoming “Marine Painter to Brad Pitt in the lead role, and the likes of often resembles a more comprehensible any of the scenes in space – but they are tic aliens, and where global brands like rity. And that, surely, is worth cheering Seven Years War could return to Lon- George III”. Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland version of Malick’s characters’ musings. shown in almost abstract fashion. Even Virgin Atlantic and DHL have become, to the stars. ■ don and face a mob shouting at them to Goods flooded in from all across the go home. By 1760, Scotland had rebelled empire, some flowing straight back out against Hanoverian rule three times, again to Europe – the industrialist Mat- Jacobite troops marching to within 100 thew Boulton was still minting French Pet Shop Boys at BBC Radio miles of London in 1746. In England, the coins for Parisian bankers three years planet since the invention of astrology, correspondents write to him in English, freedom-fighter exiled to London. 2’s Live in Hyde Park, London The Pet Shop Boys stand out from modern word “English” was the preferred term into the French Revolution. German naming this planet “the Georgian Star” despite his fluency in French and Ger- Neighbours helped each other gain for those in the British Isles, “British” traders watched out for ships from their in honour of Britain’s sovereign. Indeed, man, fondly describing the advantages employment, and banded together in popular culture in the astonishing array of used with relative rarity. The Union homeland, guiding their countrymen when the Royal Academy was founded of “old England” compared to his native times of trouble. The Swedish Church was a fragile fledgling, with no basis in to safety. The musician Georg Gries- in 1768, 25% of its founding members Germany. in Prince’s Square allowed Swedes to Pop’s last their intellectual inspirations culture or society. What on earth was bach recalled being whisked off to a were Italian, French and German. Some found the British irritating. meet every Sunday. Great Titchfield “British”? tavern, “where the Hamburg ships’ cap- At the same time, Europe wanted to Botanist Daniel Solander wrote to a Street in Fitzrovia harboured groups of intellectuals The answer, all too often, was “what- tains dine”, run by a landlord “named know about Britain. A German count liv- Swedish colleague: “The English peo- artists of French origin. Photo: Frank Hoensch - Getty Images Hoensch - Getty Frank Photo: ever we aren’t”. English and Scots Werner”. ing in Mayfair set up a meeting between ple are generally polite to foreigners, if Catholics and Italians faced more the bonded by fighting against the French As to who “Werner” was, or the Ger- one of the members of the Board of only you flatter them and tell them that difficulties assimilating than most, but and Spanish. Britain was so often at mans who toasted each other in his tav- Longitude and a Parisian watchmaker, everything you have seen in England the endless variety of London meant if PET war with France that the years between ern, we have no idea. There are traces passing on details of John Harrison’s is better than anything you have seen you were excluded by one social circle, 1688 to 1815 are termed “The Second and fragments – the Dutch Inven- famous H4 watch. Herschel’s remark- before”. Once again, old habits die hard. there was always another in which you Hundred Years War” by some academ- tor Anton Georg Eckhardt had some ably powerful telescopes were shipped It wasn’t all bad. Thanks to the writ- would be welcomed. Tiberio Cavallo ics. The earthy John Bull emerged in of his patents for cannon and navi- to astronomers across Europe. Portu- ings of Voltaire, and the international was denied membership of the British SHOP cartoons, proudly championing the gation adopted by the British Navy, guese scientist smuggled one of Boul- renown of Newton, Hobbes and Locke, Museum for being of the papist faith. strength of English liberties against and was praised in one letter by Mat- ton and Watt’s steam-powered looms England was seen as a land of liberty. But that didn’t stop him gaining a rep- archetypes of drunk Dutchmen, Italian utation as a socialite, befriending for- sodomites or effeminate Frenchmen. eigners and natives, inviting them to BOYS Catholics too faced anger and outrage, dine at his house in Fitzrovia and reg- outsiders in a Protestant nation. Some ularly taking them to meetings of the have staying areas of London were burned by a mob Intermingling with Britons seems to have been the rule. Pastors Royal Society as his guest. Cavallo man- in 1780 when the government suggested in every one of the eight German churches of London complained aged to live comfortably in the capital power lifting bans that restricted Catholic for well over forty years. presence in public life. of poor attendance, and were amazed at the speed with which Intermingling with Britons seems to Shostakovitch and the Bolshevik upris- With a catalogue of hits including It’s Sullivan might be a better comparison. His other touchstone can be found Despite this, Britain began to depend have been the rule. Pastors in every one by John McKie ing (Behaviour) as well as contempo- A Sin, Left To My Own Devices, Dom- (The fact they covered a Gilbert O’ Sulli- in another comment Tennant made of on Europeans in the 18th century. This members of their congregation diffused into English society. of the eight German churches of Lon- rary issues like the Special Relationship ino Dancing, Always On My Mind, What van song with Elton John is a side detail.) the group: “I see us in the tradition of went beyond simply having a German don complained of poor attendance, and f you spend a spare forty minutes (Fundamental) and Peter Mandelson’s Have I Done To Deserve This and Sub- Chris Lowe’s signature look, sun- Joe Orton and Noël Coward in that we head of state. The spoils of the Seven thew Boulton as a man of “superior to France, angry that the government The German naturalist Johann Rein- were amazed at the speed with which on YouTube, you will find an expe- multiple sackings (Release). He also urbia all performed, Neil Tennant and glasses and oversized headgear, is a are serious, comic, light-hearted, senti- Years War meant Britain’s Empire skill and genius” working “for the sake of “this jealous country” had imposed a hold Forster told a colleague back members of their congregation diffused rience belonging to another era, writes love songs. Probably their great- Chris Lowe showed that they belong work of performance art on its own. mental and brittle, all at the same time.” expanded so quickly the British Isles ran of our country”. Hardly anything else ban on doing so. in Gottingen: “I went to the land of into English society. Many intermar- I ried. The nuptials of socialite Hester almost another planet. Kenneth Wil- est 21st century song, Love Is A Bour- with other great British song writing Tennant even helped judge the Turner While it may be tempting to wheel out out of people to fill it. French Huguenots is left of him. Reynolds’ Italian assis- Some adopted Britain as their freedom, where work is rewarded”. liams is interviewed by Michael Par- geois Construct, was inspired by David duos, such as Jagger & Richards, Difford Prize, won by Chris Ofili, in 1998. He Coward’s maxim, “strange how potent settled in Quebec and Granada, along tant, Giuseppe Marchi, is permanently homeland. The Italian scientist Tibe- For some, Britain was a place where Thrale and her singing teacher, Gabriele kinson alongside Sir John Betjeman Lodge’s 1988 Booker-nominated novel, & Tilbrook, John & Taupin et al. That’s is from the North East rather than the cheap music is”, that’s a little unfair on with families from Germany. The Brit- in Reynolds’s shadow, despite the two rio Cavallo kept a notebook of gen- the unorthodox individual “could Piozzi, caused a scandal. Yet Thrale sac- and Maggie Smith. He references Nice Work. no idle comparison – on the 2006 docu- North West, but to this writer at least, Tennant and Lowe. Besides, the play- ish army grew to include troops from working together for 40 years. teel English phrases (“it was pouring breathe quietly, and without political rificed her social life for true love, mar- Keats, Shelley, Byron and quotes Vol- The Pet Shop Boys closed this year’s mentary, A Life In Pop, their EMI record many of his recurring fascinations in wright once famously mixed up Sibelius the German state of Hanover. Some Some European arrivals became with rain”, “they are dying to see him”, fear”. In an encounter with the Aus- ried in two weddings, one Catholic, the taire. This all happens in about twenty Radio 2’s all-day festival at Hyde Park company head Tony Wadsworth likened song, such as the capital (London, West and Delius. Tennant, a classical musical became extraordinarily successful: the famous. The German painter Angelica etc.). If a foreigner wanted to become trian Emperor, painter Johann Zof- other Anglican, in July 1784. minutes. after Simply Red, country singer Kelsea them to Gilbert and George meets Len- End Girls), royalty (Dreaming of the nut, has not. Swiss mercenary Frederick Haldimand Kauffman was a national treasure, so a naturalised subject of the King, a fany stated that he was English, “for in Amid the present wrangling over Brit- Fast forward to 2019. Who does that Ballerini, Bananarama, Clean Bandit, non and McCartney. Having written Queen, the King of Rome), spying and A better Coward comment might be became Governor of Quebec, guarding much so that she was invited to paint specific act of parliament had to be that country I received protection and ain’s place in Europe, it is worth remem- anymore? Only one person imme- Status Quo and Westlife (none of whom the musical Closer to Heaven, a ballet surveillance (Nothing Has Been Proved, this: “Thousands of people have talent. I the province during the American Wars murals in St. Paul’s cathedral. The Ital- passed for that individual, both costly encouragement”. bering that European co-operation was diately springs to mind, and he hap- has written a song about the Bolshevik (The Most Incredible Thing), and sound Integral) and homelessness (Theatre) might as well congratulate you for hav- of Independence. He received a knight- ian engraver Francesco Bartolozzi was and time-consuming. Some regis- What was it like being a foreigner in abundant while modern Britain was pens to be a pop star. On the Pet Shop uprising, unless there’s a Quo B-side I tracked a screening of Battleship Potem- express an understated sense of camp ing eyes in your head. The one and only hood for his trouble. offered £400 a year by the government tered simply to ensure their property London? Diasporas gathered around being forged. Arguably it was one of the Boys’ thirteen studio albums, Neil Ten- didn’t hear). The light show, choreogra- kin in Trafalgar Square, as well as hold- and thwarted love reminiscent of York- thing that counts is: Do you have stay- Europeans were at the fringes of if he refused a tempting job offer in Por- could be inherited by their descen- fixed points – a building, urban area country’s great successes, a nation that nant’s lyrics reference Pinter (Bilin- phy and (small detail) songs utterly jus- ing a residency at the Savoy Theatre, shire playwright Alan Bennett, who ing power?” In the words of two of their Empire, but also at the heart of a new, tugal. The Hanoverian William Her- dants. But assimilation could be total or social clique. Italians were invited was open to an outside world of trade, gual), Stravinsky (Very), Richter (Yes), tified their headlining slot. Gilbert and George meets Gilbert and often explores these themes. album titles - Yes, Actually. ■ cosmopolitan nation - there was a schel discovered Uranus, the first new – William Herschel insisted European to dine with General Paoli, a Corsican culture and competition. ■ 20 CULTURE theconservative.online theconservative.online CULTURE 21

Alma Deutscher at The Greene Space, New York Greta Thunberg? Not a patch on child is no city in decline Photo: Michael Gruber/Life Ball 2017 - Getty Images - Getty Ball 2017 Michael Gruber/Life Photo: VENICE WHERE TO EAT Ristorante Gran Canal PRODIGY Popular with tourists, but fantastic if the ALMA DEUTSCHER weather is nice. Book a table on the terrace for Heralded as the most prodigiously the best views. talented composer since Mozart, Harry’s Dolci bar and restaurant 14-year-old Alma Deutscher This place looks over the Giudecca Canal - deserves all the acclaim she has also comes with a great won so far in her short career terrace. Vecia Cavana A restaurant in by Gerald Malone a renovated old boathouse. Serves traditional Venetian recipes.

WHAT TO DRINK

il Mercante Venezia I’m reliably informed that il Mercante - located in front of the Basilica dei Frari - ate pushy kids? Same Not a bit of it. Turns out she’s another perform. It was a better vantage point to the microphone. I’m not sure about Greensilk, Bluegold and Ashy. She is Venice is strained - groaning under the weight of tourism by Finn McRedmond serves the best negroni here. It’s Tuesday evening. pushy kid! Alma Deutscher is, mind than I can ever hope to secure in Car- you starting that symphony with just unabashedly prepared to lay bare for in Venice. I’m heading to a concert bogglingly, only 14 year of age. She first negie Hall. four notes”. inspection childhood fantasies most and vulnerable to rising tides. But there’s a case for in Soho, Manhattan. My played the piano when she was 2 and In the run up to transmission I was Alma is announced and appears on of us have probably entertained, but Osteria al Squero Hphone chirrups a message announcing; picked up a violin at the age of 3. That introduced to Hugo Deutscher, Alma’s stage. There is no artifice. She wears cringe to acknowledge. I know what she optimism over the city’s future Located right in the “It’s Greta Thunberg’s World”. was in 2007/8 – aeons ago. father. I shook his hand. He was pre- an unremarkable, white frock; some- means. I used to think John Major was South of the main No it bl..dy well isn’t. At least, not I have stripped this introduction occupied, clearly in no mood to chat. thing that would not seem out of place a serious politician. But I’m over that hen Napoleon invaded Ven- leaving nothing but trash. influx of budget airlines. There is noth- Sotoportegos and you should eventually island, this bar is slightly yet. And her “Hail Mary” movement – – pace Thunberg invective - of adjec- I didn’t trespass. Deutscher père is a at a Long Island kids’ party. Her hair is now. Don’t tell. ice in 1797, bringing about the The result is a throng of shops selling ing wrong with the democratisation of find where you are going. This helped, off the beaten track. are the handlers now trying to upstage tives. adverbs, hyperbole and the slew slight, diffident man, an academic lin- restrained by a subtle Alice band. Her Alma’s piano playing technique is ele- end of the Venetian Republic, mimics of the glassware Venice is famous travel, it is a good thing. but the endless frustration of going Perfect for a quiet drink. gant, her hands lifting gently from the W the Catholic Church? – can keep “hail- of Mozartian comparisons that custom- guist. He, or his wife, Janie, accom- motion on stage is characterised by a he nicked a giant Veronese painting. The for, knock off Venetian masks, a Hard But in the case of Venice, locals are around in circles, dead-end upon dead- ing” all it likes. If I could work out arily adorn reviews of Ms. Deutscher’s pany Alma on tour, much as Leopold barely suppressed urge to add a skip to keys in the classic Hanon style, allowing painting now sits in the Louvre, as pos- Rock Café looking seedy and incongru- insistent that the trend needed to be at end, felt like a rite of passage. WHERE TO STAY how to unsubscribe from the oxymo- playing and composing. Mozart chaperoned Wolfgang Amadeus her gait. Her expression is mobile, eyes a lightness of touch and the emphasis of sibly the most ignored artwork in the ous at the base of the Rialto bridge. Too least partially reversed. Now Venetian What draws us to Venice is the city’s ronic “Intelligencer” – just one of a The fact that she is a prodigy is the from court to court across Europe three sparkling. melodic line. Hanon – a sort of Bismarck entire building. It is displayed, unfortu- few tourists interact with the city in a authorities are looking to encourage beauty. Getting lost doesn’t matter so Hotel Pensione raft of in-thrall news feeds peddling unavoidable elephant in the room, hundred years ago. Damn!! A Mozart Elliott Forrest, WQXR’s veteran pre- of pianoforte technique – was a terror of nately, opposite the Mona Lisa. meaningful way, and make a negligible tourists to interact properly with the much when every corner you turn is an Accademia her stream of simplistic eco-drivel – I beyond contradiction, maybe defying allusion. senter, does not fall into the fatal trap my youth, brandished as an awful exem- Happily, plenty of work from the great- economic contribution to boot. city – to spend money in restaurants and empty square waiting to be discovered, This hotel is pretty would. I big-finger fruitlessly instead. understanding, but it needs no distract- I had the sense these performances of condescension. Alma weighs each plar by my long suffering spinster music est Venetian artists still adorns the walls There are moves to reverse this trend. hotels, populate the galleries and the a canal with gondolas drifting along central, but not overly Forget it. This concert is more ing adornment. For the quality of her were more tense for Mr. Deutscher than response carefully, her speech patterns teacher. When I went looking for him of palaces and churches on the main In late December of last year, Vene- churches. Venice is home to an inter- algae-green water. touristy, and reasonably important. Tonight’s bill at New York musicianship, whatever her age, invites his daughter. When I glanced across are mature and thoughtful. She has to seek revenge for years of exercises I island. The Tintorettos in Scuola di San tian authorities announced they would national film festival, and the Biennale. There is a lot of talk about Venice’s priced. comparison with well-established con- at his corner seat during the fervent been round this race track of explana- was disappointed to learn he had died charge day trippers a tax up to 10 euro. Authorities want to offer more events of doomed fate as a sinking city. Every year classical music station WQXR’s per- Rocco are worth a trip there alone. But on La Residencia formance studio, The Greene Space, cert performers. That counts more than applause and whoops that greeted each tion many times before. in 1900. my visit in January, I found that nothing The measure should bring in tens of this quality all year round. we are inundated with pictures of tour- Near Piazza del San in deepest Soho, features a perfor- In both her violin and piano work matched coming out of the church into millions in revenue a year – and will be In any case, the Biennale or cruise ists knee high in water traversing Piazza Marco, and just a short mance by Alma Deutscher playing vio- Alma’s effortlessness impresses. The a deserted square doused in watery sun- directed to the costly upkeep of the city. ships aside, it is not hard to explain what San Marco. It’s an easy narrative to spin, distance from Riva degli lin and piano. Nothing astonishing instruments seem mere extensions light. The contemporary image of a city This measure is part of the volte face ultimately draws so many people a year but Venetians are keen to point out Sciavoni, this hotel is there, except it’s a curtain raiser to her of her mind. Asked if she was nervous plagued by tourists is not entirely accu- the government has undergone, her- to Venice. that it’s not exactly true. Some parts of conveniently located already sold-out debut at Carnegie Hall At the age of 4 she started improvising on known themes. Then, before performing she looked puz- rate, if you visit at the right time. the city are slowly becoming more vul- but also quite cheap. on December 12th. zled and replied, “Why should I be ner- There is something Le Carré-esque nerable to rising tides, but most of the There, she will perform a violin con- she began to express the melodies surging like a spontaneous vous”? Her virtuosity is hard wired in about the city’s alleys and sparse lanterns city remains above water throughout Ca Maria Adele This is a more expensive her being. the year. It is built on sand – but built certo, selections from a new opera ver- spring in her head, especially when she was twirling her skipping at night-time. No part of town invokes It is not a city that wants to be navigated. option - and is fitted sion of Cinderella, a piano concerto, Her reworking of the Cinderella plot this sinister feeling more than Canarre- to cope with flooding. There is a rea- with a very grand and an orchestral concert waltz, “Siren rope – the one with the silver tassels. When her mind cleared of for her opera was inventive - not a sim- gio. Just outside a “natural” wine bar on Throwing your phone in a canal would be son why there are no paintings on the interior. Sounds”. All are her compositions. other things – the detritus of everyday life – it filled with music. ple, smug recasting in modern times the canal is the spot of an assassination ground floor of the Academia. It is in the Amazing! for “relevance”. The slipper is gone. attempt on Paolo Sarpi – the theologian as helpful as Google Maps. middle of a lagoon, after all. At Carnegie Hall Ms. Deutscher The Prince and Cinderella are musi- and propagandist of Venice against the Major flooding can be destructive. The WHAT TO SEE will appear alongside The Orches- marvelling at the mystery of her early completed work, he remained com- Asked about the inspiration for cians - one with the words of a song, the papacy in 17th century. There is, quite alded by the election of Luigi Brugnaro Venetian food is notoriously ropey. mosaics of San Marco suffered “20 years tra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Brit- onset maturity. pletely still, expressionless, seemingly her music Alma is straightforward. other with the music. When they bring literally, murder in the air. as Mayor in 2015. His predecessor Gior- This is part of the charm. Mashed fish of damage” in the last November floods, The Jewish Ghetto ish born baroque legend, Jane Glover. Her compositions are original, aston- detached. At the age of 4 she started improvis- them together - Bingo! No glass slip- Just down the road from the wine bar gio Orsoni headed a centre-left govern- on toast is exactly as delicious as it the local authorities claimed. And there Perfect for a stroll, and plenty of bars and cafés ing on known themes. Then, she began per needed. With sarcastic sleight of are frequent debates over how to manage The Orchestra of St Luke’s has been ishingly polished, promising much to I wondered about the life choices he is the Jewish ghetto, where Jews were ment. The left traditionally held Venice sounds. Anchovies and artichokes are to drop into along the mis-described as “New York’s home- come as, rolling down the decades, her and Janie have made to nurture Alma’s to express the melodies surging like a hand the Ugly Sisters are portrayed as made to live by Venetian authorities – but Brugnaro shook up the narrative, the currency of choice. You would think this – do you remove the mosaics alto- way. town band”. It is no such homey thing. style evolves. To do her real justice it talent. She is educated at home. School spontaneous spring in her head, espe- manipulating operatic divas. I predict during the Republic. The ghetto today as an entrepreneurial conservative. Venice is nestled in a raddichio forrest gether, to be preserved in a museum for It is one of the most respected baroque is important to strip away the hype was too dull. Her ever-churning mind cially when she was twirling her skip- that the work will be increasingly per- now boasts some of the best restaurants On my trip last month our hosts told for its otherwise inexplicable ubiquity. posterity? Or do you accept their fate – is Palazzo Fortuny ensembles anywhere on the planet. focused on her youth now threatening consumes more than any conven- ping rope – the one with the silver formed by small opera companies, as it and bars the city has to offer, and the us over lunch that Venetians feel con- But it’s less the state of the food but the this what is supposed to happen to them? One of Venice’s More amazing! to engulf her. She is not a fairground tional school could provide. The family tassels. When her mind cleared of other can be produced on a manageable scale, unmissable Museum of Jewish Art. flicted about this change. Public ser- culture of eating which is appealing. The images of tourists wading many Palazzo’s - this She has composed sixteen works, freak from “America Has Talent”. She moved from Basingstoke to Vienna. I’ve things – the detritus of everyday life – it won’t break budgets and will attract In these less trodden areas Venice vices are in decline following the loss The city is adorned with chichetti bars through San Marco paint a far more one has plenty of including two operas, “Sweeper of is a musical force for the future in the got nothing against Basingstoke, but it filled with music. audiences. comes into its own. of the high-spending left wing govern- at every bend, where you graze on vari- dramatic picture – worthy of Veronese different exhibitions on Dreams” and “Cinderella”. Discogra- making. seems like a no-brainer. At 6 she was developing musical ideas, And there is a broader point. Melody But a narrative of decline has plagued ment, they say, but Brugnaro could save ations of mashed fish on toast washed – than is actually the case. Venice will throughout the year. in opera died in 1943 with Rachmani- be around for a long time to come, and phy includes three CDs, the latest being On Tuesday evening she performed Alma’s musicianship is nurtured by adding accompanying parts and shap- the city in recent years. The Guardian the city from itself. The very few perma- down with prosecco or spritz. Gallerie the recently released “My book of Melo- a live broadcast for WQXR. Their a global network of teachers, deploying ing narratives. The easy bit is thinking noff. We entered an era of dissonance, recently published a gloomy outlook nent residents of the main island will all It is not a city that wants to be nav- hopefully much longer. dell’Accademia dies” on Sony Classical. Shades of Men- Greene Space studio accommodates all the artifice of modern communica- about melody. It is hard work to control Sturm und Drang with a vengeance. on the city’s future, groaning under the attest to the pressing need to address igated. Throwing your phone in a Go there early in the year when it is You can’t go to Venice delssohn’s “Songs my Mother Taught a tightly packed audience of 50. I was tion - playing on each other’s pianos via and develop it. Alma Deutscher’s sell-out concerts are weight of thirty million visitors every the tourism problem. canal would be as helpful as Google quiet. Nothing can beat coming out of and not see the city’s Me”. Even more amazing! sitting in the second row – I’d bought a Skypy Instagrammy Drop Box thingy. She sketches her music in a make a cautionary tale for opera house man- year. Around half are day-trippers – The difficulty lies in changing the Maps. A friend who is studying there Scuola di San Rocco and seeking ref- best gallery. Drop in Surely the Carnegie Hall appear- a VIP ticket (50 bucks) - ten feet from Imagine Mozart and Beethoven holding believe world, Transylvanian, populated agers faced with declining numbers of the tourists who pour off cruise ships, culture of tourism. European travel gave us some invaluable intel – streets uge from the cold in a bacari with an during a stroll through ance must mark the apex of Ms. the gleaming black Italian Fazioli jamming sessions on Baroqueobox: “Ah, with Grimm characters and courtly “bums on seats”. Maybe melody mat- bringing a packed lunch, taking photos has gone through a democratisation labelled “Corte” tend to be dead ends aperol spritz. The Tintorettos are pretty the Dorsoduro area. Deutscher’s long career? grand piano on which she was about to Ludwig, bring your harpsichord closer composers - Antonin Yellowsink, Shell, ters. ■ of San Marco, spending no money and over the past 30 years, heralded by the (lots of those), follow the Calles and impressive too. ■ 22 CULTURE theconservative.online theconservative.online CULTURE 23

Reykjavik International Film Festival Michelin starred 26th September – 6th October Now into its sixteenth edition, spin-off restaurants – CULTURE Iceland’s premier film festival continues to attract some of indie VARIETY cinema’s biggest hitters. This year, As good as the originals? is the spice of Italian wine fan favourites such as Jennifer Lawrence breakout Winter’s Bone Spin-off restaurants are more than just a cynical branding exercise by Guy Chatfield DIGEST jostle with new work by Claire Denis The best of Europe’s and Jim Jarmusch, as well as a full by Bruce Palling art and culture programme of local Icelandic work.

n the past, famous chefs rarely an appetiser for her main restaurant Yannick doesn’t consider this to be a found it necessary to venture out- with a number of her signature dishes. second restaurant, a term which he dis- I side their own restaurants but The food itself was certainly worthy of approves. “This is just for pleasure – it is these days it is the exception to the its Michelin star – a consommé of ber- normal to have a more accessible address rule if they don’t. It is all to do with lingots ravioli stuffed with smoked but I prefer not to call them second branding and attracting diners from Brillat-Savarin cheese, Provencal restaurants – it is like saying you have a beyond their immediate catchment asparagus both raw and roasted and second child you don’t love as much as the Bauhaus – #ItsAllDesign, area. With the arrival of Japanese cus- red mullet with razor clams and shitake first one or that it is a lesser place.” When DesignMuseum Danmark tomers in the Sixties, it was soon all mushrooms with a potato cake. I went for Sunday lunch, it was packed, st Photo: Paris Tavitian, Museum of Cycladic Art Museum of Cycladic Tavitian, Paris Photo: until 1 December the rage for three-star chefs to open Yannick Alléno is the only chef to with simple offerings of perfectly pre- branches in Tokyo but now they tend to possess two three-star restaurants in pared and presented dishes of steamed Venice Biennale One of a number of exhibitions be in Las Vegas or within other Casino France – Ledoyen in Paris and Le 1947 red mullet, roast lamb with rice or a truf- Degas á l’Opera, Picasso and Antiquity, until 24th November celebrating the 100th anniversary Complexes in Macao, Singapore and in Courchevel. He championed “Ter- fled celeriac cake with layers of ham. Musée d’Orsay Museum of Cycladic Art of the Bauhaus movement, the Melbourne. roir Parisien” – a celebration of the best Less than five minutes away on foot, 24th September – 19th October until 20th October Never shy of controversy, this year’s Beirut, Münchenbryggeriet, exhibition explores all aspects of The idea of restaurant spin-offs began produce in and around Paris, but more within the recently renovated Hotel Biennale has doubled down on the Stockholm this design school’s activities and in Paris in 1987 with two-star Michel Ros- recently he celebrated complex sauces Lutetia, Marseille’s Gérald Passedat One of Impressionism’s founding Paring some of the Spanish artist’s political, with exhibits on everything 30th September how contemporary design builds on tang’s Bistrot d’à côté Flaubert. Arguably, made from the produce they adorned. of Le Petit Nice has opened his first fathers, Degas spent nearly fifty years lesser known ceramic work with from Brazilian transgender rights to the heritage of Bauhaus. Featuring Gavvers in Lower Sloane restaurant outside Provence in and around the Paris Opera, the pieces from Aegean antiquity, this ecological catastrophe. Perhaps most Zach Condon’s beloved world music work by Marianne Brandt, Marcel St was an earlier example – a simple seafood bistro inspiration for some of his finest work. novel exhibition traces a little- striking is Austrian artist Christoph ensemble continue their European Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter of this trend in London as again with modest prices. This retrospective, the first to focus known thread from the islands of Buchel’s installation of the fishing boat tour, back on form after 2018’s Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, the show it was the diffusion restau- Considered the greatest solely on the painter’s relationship the ancient Mediterranean to one which sank near Lampedusa in 2015, Gallipoli. Balkan folk, chamber pop, represents the first comprehensive rant of Le Gavroche when it With their reasonable price seafood chef in France, the with the theatre, is the perfect of the greatest painters of the 20th with 800 migrants on board, which has French chanson - if Wes Anderson overview of the movement and how it moved from that destination bistro offers a more straight- snapshot of Belle Epoque France. century. prompted fierce debate from all sides. made music, it would sound like this. continues to impact us today. to Mayfair in the early Eight- points, they offer a somewhat forward fish stew, but each ies. Alain Ducasse of Monaco more relaxed and affordable and every component is per- and Daniel Boulud in New fectly cooked so that they also York are now international option than is to be found in express their own distinctive brands with a dozen or more flavours. Sardines are like- establishments throughout their culinary temples. wise beautifully presented on he Italian peninsula is a complex place. Descending from the the globe. slices of toast slathered with Alpine north to the Mediterranean south, you encounter a rich On a recent trip to Paris, I tried three His latest dishes rely on more classic “tomato butter”. The standout dish variety of people who - while not ethnically diverse in any great T Vondrouš ČTK / Roman Photo: restaurants owned by three-star chefs combinations of the very best ingredi- though was the octopus fisherman’s pie, way - display confusing and contrasting characteristics. Luxury – From the Assyrians – each of them with different objec- ents allowed to speak for themselves. covered in mash potato with a dusting As with people, so with wine. to Alexander the Great, tives. The oldest was La Dame de Pic, a Ledoyen is one of the most romantic of pimento powder, priced at a reason- I always thought the fact that sums Italy up the most succinctly is CaixaForum, Madrid one star controlled by Anne-Sophie Pic restaurants in France, located in a nine- able €29. None of these places are par- that Sangiovese, Italy’s most widely planted grape has seventy one until 12th January Café Budapest Contemporary from Maison Pic in Valence. teenth century classical mansion sur- ticularly expensive, so the majority of synonyms – all regional expressions of, for all intents and purposes, Art Festival She is the third generation of her rounded by a garden at the end of the diners are not the usual customers for exactly the same grape. With 200 objects donated by the Warsaw Design Week 2019 4th – 20th October family to acquire the ultimate Miche- Champs-Élysées, walking distance from three-star Michelin establishments. Within this bamboozling array of different names you will find com- British Museum, this exhibition, 1st – 6th October The Steadfast: Kafka to the lin accolade in her restaurant south of the Crillon and opposite the Grand Except perhaps for publicity shots, none plex and beautiful Brunello di Montalcino, the rustic Puttanella and the which covers the period from 900 Octoberfest, Munich This two-week event, which takes Velvet Revolution Lyon. Her style is to cook with extreme Palais. of this trio of chefs would ever be found obscure Patrimonio. Of course, what really put Sangiovese on the map and 300 BC, brings together a 21st September – 6th October Warsaw Design Week brings together place in more than 40 venues until 6th October delicacy, often using non-French herbs Located in the Seventh Arrondisse- in the kitchens of these restaurants, yet was Tuscany’s Chianti; the red cherry and plumminess that grabbed broad collection of treasures from hundreds of events from the world throughout Budapest, brings together and spices with inspired results. A ment inside a new development offer- each of them manages to express their the attention of wine drinkers in the 1960’s and 70’s with its memora- four of the ancient world’s largest Octoberfest needs little introduction. of interior design, architecture and a number of individual festivals, In celebration of the 30 years since recent meal there was a master class ing casual dining, Allénothèque also culinary style and values. With their ble wicker encapsulated bottles and value for money “gluggability”. empires. A remarkable insight into With 6 million guests expected – and craftmanship, scattered around the including ArtMarket Budapest, into the Velvet Revolution, this exhibition in subtlety. La Dame de Pic opened in stands out because of its superb wine reasonable price points, they offer a For that reason, Italian wine is sometimes seen as being straightfor- both the technical skill of the era’s 7 million litres of beer to be drunk – Polish capital. The biggest event of one citywide event. Focused this year is a new view of Czech art from 2012 in Les Halles, just north of the cellars in the basement, which can be somewhat more relaxed and affordable ward and easily accessible, providing “every day drinking”. But take a artisans and craftsmen, and the role Munich’s annual beer festival remains its type in Eastern Europe, the week on the work of Hungarian composer 1918 to 1989. It features 30 classic Louvre and currently has a Miche- purchased or drunk on the premises for option than is to be found in their culi- bit of care to look properly and you can find extraordinary complexity that luxury played then, as now, in a Bavarian cultural highlight, complete features exhibitions, workshops, panel Bela Bartok, expect everything from writers and visual artists, exploring lin star. Anne-Sofie Pic describes it as a small supplement. nary temples. ■ and choice on multiple levels. projecting power and identity across with brass bands, lederhosen and the discussions on all things design, as well Shakespeare to the circus, world music their verses, diary notes, quotes and That is what has engaged me the most over my time in the wine the known world. riflemen’s parade. as more social evening events. to metal work. interviews. La Dame de Pic (20 Rue du Louvre, Paris 1, anne-sophie-pic.com) - set menu from: €59 trade. In a vaguely masochistic way, I love that whenever you get cocky Brasserie Lutetia 45 (Blvd Raspail, Paris 6, hotellutetia.com) - main dish and dessert: €40 enough to think that you are beginning to crack it in knowing about Allénothèque (57 rue de Grenelle Paris 7, allenotheque.fr) - three course lunch from: €41 Italian wine, it delivers a surprise that blows you to pieces, levelling any arrogance in a second. The consolation is that you can drink your sor- ACROSS 67. Falco and McClurg 31. Slangy agreement rows away while learning your lesson in humility. 1. First part of a play 68. Oklahoma city 32. Greek weights My odyssey into Italian wine started fifteen years ago in an attempt 5. Pound pickup 69. Portuguese man ____ 33. Actor ___ Ritchard of to spout knowledgeably at an interview. I didn’t get the job, most prob- 9. Wood shop tool (venomous jellyfish) Broadway’s “Peter Pan” 14. Outside, as a chance 70. English weight 34. Helmsley or Mitchell Brasserie Lutetia Brasserie ably due to the fact that although I tried to convey my “understanding” 15. Bruins’ home 71. ____ bunnies 38. Get a new mortgage of the aristocracy of Piedmontese Barolo and Amarone in the Veneto in 16. Blanched 72. Hoops great Archibald for, briefly the north, it was blatantly apparent to the prospective employer that I 17. Bonheur 40. “The Catcher in the was really just winging it. 19. Bell’s invention DOWN ____” 20. Univac’s predecessor 1. Arthur of tennis 41. Medium-distance run Berlingots ravioli at La Dame de Pic at Berlingots ravioli It inspired me to study more, moving from the accessible Montepul- ciano d’Abruzzos from Marche on the eastern seaboard to the highly 21. “He ____ got a clue” 2. “Braveheart” group 44. In vain 23. Successor to JFK 3. Sioux shelter (var.) 46. Police trap cultured middle child of Tuscan Brunello di Montalcino, the “peasant” 25. Highest points 4. Gazelle relative 49. Japanese Prime Primitivos of Puglia and Sicilian Nero d’Avola. And that’s just a few of 30. Rich offer 5. Son of a ___ Minister Hirobumi

Bouillabaisse Royale at Hotel Lutetia (Gerald Passedat) (Gerald Lutetia Hotel at Royale Bouillabaisse the reds. 33. 151, to Claudius 6. Banda ___ (2004 tsunami 50. Hornswoggled What has piqued my curiosity recently has been the stylistic differ- 35. Deliberate slight site) 51. “The Blue ___” ences that the Italian south can offer, especially the sweet or dessert, 36. Shooter’s aiming aid 7. Rick’s love in “Casablanca” 55. Indigenous Japanese wine. 37. Twelve months 8. New Providence Island resort people 39. To the ship’s left 9. Business trip aids 56. Biol. and phys. Some of Italy’s best dessert wines come from the Mediterranean 42. “Scat!” 10. Volcanic output 58. Defunct electronics island Pantelleria, a volcanic outcrop one hundred and eighty kilome- 43. Alfa ___ 11. Even if, poetically brand tres south-west of Sicily and just sixty clicks east of Tunisia. 45. Cleaning agents 12. Queen of the coop 59. ____ the start (present Italy, in my humble opinion, delivers the best “bang for your buck” 47. 2010 Aaron Sorkin film 13. Chemical ending from the beginning) one can find in the wine world. The full portfolio of tastes is available (abbr.) 18. Long-range weapons, briefly 60. Fairy-tale fiend there, from crisp light white Fianos to silky, powerful Negroamaros. 48. Not effectively 22. ‘Fresh Air’ airer 61. Fathom 52. Scold severely 24. Napoleonic victory site 62. Vow phrase Don’t just take my word for it. Explore Italian wine and begin a 53. Korean car 26. Gray, to Gaston 63. “The Delta of Venus” romance. You might find - like me - that you’re still enamoured many 54. Namesakes of a Chaplin 27. Fourscore writer years later. ■ 57. Marsh of mysteries 28. Repercussions 64. Sun Yat-___ 61. Japanese knife 29. Author Anya 66. NYC time zone, in 65. “Bravo!” 30. Capital of Niger summer crossword & sudoku crossword LEADING EUROPE’S CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT

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