The pope and the queen agree: let Turkey into Europe

Pope Benedict is not supposed to take positions on political issues. But when he traveled to Turkey in November 2006, he let it be announced by the Turkish prime minister that the pope had told him he supported Turkey’s admission to the EU. (The Vatican’s belated denials that the pope had said this were not believable, as I conclusively demonstrated here.)

Similarly, Queen Elizabeth is not supposed to take positions on political issues. But during a visit to Turkey by her and Prince Philip this week, she publicly supported Turkey’s admission to the EU.

It seems that for these leaders whose role transcends politics, the one issue that transcends all others, the one issue that is so important that it impels them to step outside the bounds of their non-political office and make political statements, is the need to help Islam take over Europe. The one true religion of the Western world’s elite is Western suicide.

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Ortelio writes:

You wrote: “Queen Elizabeth is not supposed to take positions on political issues. But during a visit to Turkey by her and Prince Philip this week, she publicly supported Turkey’s admission to the EU.”

On the contrary, the Queen has a constitutional duty to take the advice of the government of the day, not only about whether to make a state visit, but also what to say in the course of it, on political issues. Her speech favoring Turkish admission will have been drafted in the Foreign Office, and on its political essentials she will have had little or no personal input. British policy on this is dominated by the Foreign Office’s geopolitical theories, which are sublimely indifferent to the consequences of the unrestrained and massive Muslim immigration which would follow Turkish admission.

LA replies:

Yes, you’re right, the Queen functions in effect as the mouthpiece of the government, particularly when she gives her annual speech at the opening of Parliament which is written for her by the prime minister. But that is a formalized, ritual affair. I was never aware of the Queen traveling around, especially to other countries, actively advocating the policies of the government of the moment, particularly when they are highly contentious proposals that have not come into effect yet, such as the admission of Turkey into the EU. That seems extremely unusual to me.

Ortelio writes:

The policy she was articulating was not just any government policy but the official position of the British state in its conduct, through her Ministers, of foreign affairs. She would be acting constitutionally very improperly if, in the course of a “state visit” to a foreign nation, she publicly stated a position at variance with official British policies in relation to that foreign state, and almost as improper for her to choose, on her own judgment, to remain silent about a matter that both her Ministers and the foreign government expected her to address. Her wording on Turkish accession would have been approved in advance, down to the last comma, by the Foreign Office. Nothing unusual here.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 17, 2008 09:35 AM | Send