Why the Tories must unite to fight ‘Trump mouthpiece’ Farage

The Conservative Party must return to the sensible principles that once made it great, says Tory grandee Michael Heseltine – before populist extremism finds its way into No 10

When the Second World War ended, the universal view was that it must never be allowed to happen again. Winston Churchill articulated the idea with the words, “We must create a kind of United States of Europe.”

Harold Macmillan set us off on our controversial post-imperial journey; Ted Heath secured our accession to the treaty of Rome. Margaret Thatcher's greatest achievement was to help create the European single market; John Major secured the Maastricht compromise that prevented free movement and kept us out of the single currency. I worked for them all, and remain convinced of the arguments in favour of Europe. If the Conservatives want to return to power they would do well to remember what our party achieved then.

The economic collapse of 2008 and the Covid crisis have contributed to the lack of confidence in governments. The right-wing equivalents to the fascists of the 1930s are back on the march: Le Pen in France, AfD in Germany, Fdl in Italy, Vox in Spain and, conspicuously, Reform in this country. Much of Donald Trump's language in America coincides with words here in Europe. The immigrant has replaced the Jew as the problem which needs a solution, although recent events here have cast a dark shadow.

The overwhelming majority of asylum seekers want to share in our standards, and to escape from persecution or civil war. To describe them as thieves or rapists is not just dishonest but encourages the worst sort of prejudice in our communities. If you want further proof just visit any part of our health services, social services, public or private sector offices or academia.

Donald Trump's over-friendly relationship with Putin has raised the urgent requirement to form a more coordinated European military capability - and we don’t need Nigel Farage anywhere near No 10 (Nigel Farage/X)

I want the Conservatives back in power. But it is time that the party wakes up.

I believe there are five broad issues that they must address. the defence of the realm; the restoration of strength and confidence in our economy; the rule of law; the threat to our environment from pollution, global warming and climate change; and the restoration of British influence in the world.

This is an agenda that should appeal to the younger electorate. The latest YouGov poll puts the Conservatives on 16 points – one ahead of the Lib Dems, six points behind Labour, and 13 behind Reform UK. A stark warning comes when you look at the age group of the present Conservative supporters and see how weighted it is towards older voters.

It is a long way to the next election but there is danger in a strategy that is mixing up the immigration problem with our wider relations with our European neighbours. The danger is clearly revealed in another set of polls. The number of people aged below 50 who think it was right for us to leave Europe is less than 20 per cent, and with the 18- to 24-year-olds it is only 13 per cent. Overall, the latest polls tell us that 56 per cent now believe it was a mistake to leave. Only 31 per cent believe it was right. The tide is turning.

If the Conservative Party ever hopes for re-election, it must remember its previous successful periods in government, build on those successes - and the policies that achieved them.

We must not abandon the shared laws of Europe. The scantiest knowledge of European history and our role in it is a story of one war after another; of political failure where dialogue and negotiation was replaced by bloodshed largely of generations younger than those in charge. In one of his most famous speeches, Churchill at Zurich in 1946 called for a Council of Europe and a Charter of Human Rights. This country was the first to ratify the charter before it came into force in 1953. It was the first legally binding international human rights treaty.

The threat from global warming must not be ignored in the hope that it may not happen, or because there is a backlash against the cost. The Climate Change Act 2008 was prepared by the Conservative opposition led by David Cameron. So comprehensive was the parliamentary support that Gordon Brown agreed to accept it as a government bill, which was passed with only five dissenting votes. We should be proud of our role in the battle to halt climate change.

It was Margaret Thatcher who gave one of the starkest and earliest warnings of the dangers. Today, the evidence in storms, coastal erosion, flooding, fire and the spread of desert is all too clear. It would be an act of unforgivable irresponsibility to undo all that Conservatives have done to play a leading role in this world-threatening crisis.

European companies need the same scale of research and development support as available to their competitors in America, China and, increasingly, India. Only European cooperation can keep us in that league. We must also play a leading part in building a more effective European military capability within Nato and prevent a Russian victory in Ukraine. There can be little doubt that the West was asleep on the job as Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine. Trump's over-friendly relationship with Putin has raised the urgent requirement to form a more coordinated European military capability in Nato. If Europe really had to act in the absence of the US, do we really know who is in charge and how quickly they could assume command?

Above all, we must make clear that we will never have any part in the populist extremism of Nigel Farage.

We have to deal with Trump for the next three years. We don't need his mouthpiece anywhere near No 10.

‘From Acorns to Oaks: An Urgent Agenda to Rebuild Britain’ by Michael Heseltine is out now