Podium: English is the language of values and liberty

Baroness Thatcher; Taken from the inaugural speech of the Thatcher lecture series, given to the US English Speaking Union

ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES share a hallowed moral ground. We take seriously the sanctity of the individual; we share a common tradition of religious tolerance; we are committed to democracy; and we are resolved to uphold and spread the rule of law.

It is, of course, the English language itself that makes it possible for us to stand together and pledge ourselves to those principles we deem permanent. For English is a language soaked in values; it is the language of liberty. Our common tongue allows us to come together in civic purpose, and it enables us to live together peaceably.

Twice this century it has fallen to the English-speaking peoples to defend world peace in wars of European origin. The great British-American Alliance led the way in both world wars. And, following the Second World War, it was again our duty to face down the "evil empire" that was the Soviet Union. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War have hardly left the world a perfect place. The new world order only means that many of our current problems are new ones - or, rather, old ones that now come in new guises.

We have looked on in horror as new tyrants have deliberately stirred ethnic hatred in those countries where Communism once fiercely imposed an artificial order. We have watched with concern as rogue states have sought to acquire nuclear capability by rummaging through the dusty arsenals of the former Communist-bloc states. We have realised, grimly, that the willingness to use terrorism as a political tool has not abated. And we look with dismay at the rise of organised crime and gangsters in many of the emerging democracies now finally freed from Communism's cruel yoke.

Most of these things can be remedied by the steady spread of the fundamental values of the English-speaking peoples. This will not come easily or quickly. Liberty is a plant of slow growth, and one that demands constant and careful attention. Yet there seems to be an inevitability about it, for liberty is man's natural and desired condition.

English-speaking peoples are, above all others, uniquely situated to impart these lessons of liberty. We boast, after all, the world's oldest systems of representative government; we were the first to recognise fundamental rights and individual liberties, and we have preserved our institutions of freedom for centuries. A new political alliance of the English-speaking peoples would allow us to foster those values that have been so important in our peace and prosperity.

The problem is, however, that the impulse towards developing a new European defence and separate European armed forces has little to do with the fact that Europe is cutting its defences while America is increasing hers. It has even less to do with any serious European response to the global dangers of proliferation, which can properly be met only by ballistic missile defence. No; the real drive towards a separate European defence is the same as that towards a single European currency - namely the Utopian venture of creating a single European superstate to rival America on the world stage.

The fact that the current British Government, in pursuit of a doomed ambition to "lead Europe", has reversed Britain's hostility towards such ideas, should worry our American allies. After all, Nato has worked so well in the past for two reasons, namely the acceptance of American leadership, and the understanding that, in any crisis within the Alliance, Britain could be relied upon to support America. The creation of a separate European defence threatens both these conditions, and so poses a serious danger to Nato's cohesion and effectiveness.

The 20th century has been called the American century. Not only has the US been a great world power, it has also been a great moral example. With its allies we have withstood the forces of evil and tyranny in whatever form we have found them. We have no reason to think that the 21st century will depend any less upon our commitment to those self-same values that have encouraged the spread of freedom around the world.