"Given a fair wind, we will negotiate our way into the Common Market, head held high, not crawling in. Negotiations? Yes. Unconditional acceptance of whatever terms are offered us? No"
About this Quote
Wilson’s line is a tightrope act, and you can feel the pressure of the wire beneath it. “Given a fair wind” borrows the romance of seafaring Britain, but it’s not nostalgic fluff; it’s political weather talk. If the conditions are right, Britain can tack toward Europe without admitting it’s being pushed. The phrase smuggles contingency into what could otherwise look like surrender.
The real muscle is in the bodily imagery: “head held high, not crawling in.” He’s staging entry into the Common Market as a test of national dignity, because he knows the deepest fear on both left and right isn’t trade policy, it’s status. To join is to risk looking smaller. Wilson answers that anxiety with a choreography of pride. Britain can move toward Europe upright, on its own terms, not as a supplicant.
Then comes the pivot that makes the rhetoric work: “Negotiations? Yes.” It’s brisk, almost managerial, the voice of competence. The next sentence snaps shut the trapdoor: “Unconditional acceptance... No.” Wilson is inoculating himself against the charge of being “pro-Europe” in the naive or deferential sense. He’s also signaling to Europe that Britain wants in, but refuses the posture of the petitioner.
Context matters: post-imperial Britain, economic stagnation, and a political class trying to reconcile diminished power with the need for new markets. Wilson’s subtext is blunt: integration may be necessary, but humiliation is optional.
The real muscle is in the bodily imagery: “head held high, not crawling in.” He’s staging entry into the Common Market as a test of national dignity, because he knows the deepest fear on both left and right isn’t trade policy, it’s status. To join is to risk looking smaller. Wilson answers that anxiety with a choreography of pride. Britain can move toward Europe upright, on its own terms, not as a supplicant.
Then comes the pivot that makes the rhetoric work: “Negotiations? Yes.” It’s brisk, almost managerial, the voice of competence. The next sentence snaps shut the trapdoor: “Unconditional acceptance... No.” Wilson is inoculating himself against the charge of being “pro-Europe” in the naive or deferential sense. He’s also signaling to Europe that Britain wants in, but refuses the posture of the petitioner.
Context matters: post-imperial Britain, economic stagnation, and a political class trying to reconcile diminished power with the need for new markets. Wilson’s subtext is blunt: integration may be necessary, but humiliation is optional.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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