AHEAD OF HER TIMES:

Thatcher got it right on EU, says maverick urging Dutch to vote No (Toby Harnden, 29/05/2005, Sunday Telegraph)

If Geert Wilders was a rock star, his arrival would seem slightly over the top. As he steps into the square from his coach, fitted with darkened, bullet-proof windows and with VIP emblazoned on the side, he acknowledges the cheers.

"You're the best," shouts Monique Feenstra, the owner of a Hilversum coffee shop. Her hero, dressed all in white except for a lime green tie, uses one hand to sweep back his bottle-blond hair, and the other to sign an autograph. "He's beautiful," coos Maria Geijsen, a pensioner.

The perma-tanned Mr Wilders is not a lead singer, however, but a maverick Right-wing MP who fronts his own party, Groep Wilders. His populist campaign will be a key factor if, as the opinion polls predict, the Dutch No camp that he supports wins Wednesday's referendum on the European Union constitution. [...]

In opposing the constitution, Mr Wilders finds himself in an uneasy alliance with much of the Dutch Left, which sees it as undermining Holland's social model and traditional liberalism.

Both ends of the spectrum are feeding off a growing distrust of mainstream politicians and resentment over a lack of consultation on Europe. Mr Wilders's message about the evils of immigration and the loss of sovereignty to a European superstate is, he said inspired by Margaret Thatcher. "She rejected Europe very strongly and as a result today, because we were weak, the Dutch are paying Brussels what the British should pay. British people know their history and are sceptical about Europe. They are very wise and we can learn from them," he said.

Too bad the Tories can't.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 29, 2005 12:00 AM