Time to be a good European, Gordon

Dear Gordon, We don’t know each other all that well, though you kindly contributed to two books which I edited, and we share a common devotion to the ideals of Anthony Crosland, the UK Labour Party’s finest thinker, whose great work, The Future of Socialism, was first published 50 years ago.

I was once Crosland’s parliamentary private secretary and - among contemporary Labour politicians - you have emerged as his closest disciple, not least because your policies as chancellor of the exchequer have been strongly marked by his egualitarian precepts. It is for this reason, among many others, that I welcome the almost certain prospect of your taking over from Tony Blair as UK prime minister within the next three months.

Many other British people will, I know, share my enthusiasm, but I must warn you that there will be few celebrations in Brussels, and other European capitals, when the long-awaited transfer of power takes place. For better or worse, you have established a reputation for being a bad - or at best a lukewarm - European.

Two factors have contributed to this. First, you are held to be the main culprit for keeping the UK out of the single currency. Second, you have not been a very assiduous attender at meetings of EU economic and finance ministers and when you do come you have been all too prone to lecture your fellow ministers on how superior the UK’s economic record has been under your watch.

Your claims may be largely justified, though over the last couple of years the eurozone members seem to have caught up. Yet this is water under the bridge: what is more important is your attitude to the future and especially to the moves now spearheaded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to secure an agreed slimmed-down version of the EU’s constitutional treaty.

This will, of course, be the central item on the agenda of the EU summit in June, which unfortunately you will probably not be attending. It will be up to you, however, to implement whatever is decided, and this will be the crucial first test of your own European commitment.

You could either seek to ally yourself with reactionary forces in Poland and the Czech Republic (as well as with the cruder elements in the British tabloid press) in seeking to block progress and thus condemning the EU to an unpredictable future in which many desirable outcomes, including future enlargement, would be jeopardised.

Or you could put yourself at the head of those working to secure a more effective European Union, together with whoever emerges as the next president of France, as well as with Merkel, with whom you have already established a good relationship. It is important that you should resist the call from Eurosceptics and Europhobes to hold a referendum rather than submitting whatever agreement is reached - which will fall far short of being a constitution - to a parliamentary vote.

Do not allow yourself to be browbeaten by the ‘independent’ opinion poll recently sponsored by the so-called Open Europe pressure group, which showed large majorities in favour of referenda being held. This poll was shamelessly based on leading questions, which no reputable polling organisation would agree to employ.

More generally, it would greatly increase your own influence within the EU, and among your future partners in the European Council, if you were to adopt a more enthusiastic tone in referring to the Union and its activities.

The UK’s interest is to secure more liberal economic polices and a major reallocation of EU resources away from wasteful agricultural support and towards innovation and the greater use of soft power towards Europe’s neighbours and the third world, causes I know are close to your heart. They can only be enhanced by your working closely with the European Commission, and José Manuel Barroso, its president, and the more forward-looking heads of government.

I look forward to seeing you at future EU meetings in Brussels, with, I hope, a smile rather than a scowl on your face, and a determination to ensure that Britain should play a more central role in the EU, rather than appearing to be a dyspeptic critic from the sidelines, which is unfortunately the impression it has too often given in the past.

Yours ever, Dick

• Dick Leonard edited the 50th anniversary edition of The Future of Socialism by Anthony Crosland (Constable £9.99), to which Gordon Brown contributed the foreword.

Dear Gordon, We don’t know each other all that well, though you kindly contributed to two books which I edited, and we share a common devotion to the ideals of Anthony Crosland, the UK Labour Party’s finest thinker, whose great work, The Future of Socialism, was first published 50 years ago.