Daniel, the Lord Hannan of Kingsclere currently serves in Britain’s Parliament. He also spent twenty years in the Parliament of the European Union, and is considered “the face of Brexit” by many. He shares his insight of how the U.S. is viewed internationally and how deep the ties are between our two countries on this edition of WTMJ Conversations!
A partial transcript is provided below, courtesy of eCourt Reporters.
LIBBY COLLINS: So, what about tariffs? You are not particularly a fan, but so far in the last year-and-a-half since these were invoked by President Trump, how have they affected the UK?
LORD DANIEL HANNAN OF KINGSCLERE: Well, they’ve affected the UK negatively in the sense that it has reduced some of our export wealth.
But the far greater damage has been to the US. That’s always how tariffs work, they primarily penalize the people in the country which has imposed them. And one way of demonstrating that is when the Supreme Court ruled the first set of tariffs as an abuse of power. People then had the opportunity to come back and claim the money back. Who is lining up to get the money back? Do you see a single foreign government there? Do you see Britain or Europe or China or anybody else saying — of course not, because they were never paying the tariffs. As people tried to explain from the beginning, the tariffs were always going to fall primarily on US consumers and on US manufacturers.
LIBBY COLLINS: Do you feel that the actions that this administration is taking, is this ultimately going to create anti-American sentiment in the UK?
LORD DANIEL HANNAN OF KINGSCLERE: It has, and not particularly in the UK, but everywhere in the world. The UK remains an outlier in having become less anti-American than most places. Do an opinion poll in Canada, you’d be pretty shocked by what you’ll hear. And it’s especially affected the parties and the politicians who are traditionally the most pro-American.
So, I’m afraid it is creating bad feelings, less so in Britain because we have all these family ties, as well as historical ties, military ties, and security ties, and all the rest of it. But, yes, even in Britain you’re left wondering.
Donald Trump has had exceptionally two state visits and his response is to say we wouldn’t support you if Argentina attacked the Falkland Islands the way Reagan did, and maybe it’s time to give Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic. Well, is that really the behavior of a friend?
LORD DANIEL HANNAN OF KINGSCLERE: What’s the basic role of a parliamentary assembly? It’s to hold the government to account. I really do stress this, and I stress this to any legislators listening, whether you’re state legislators or federal ones. Calling yourself a legislator is giving a fake idea of what your primary role is, that we are not primarily there to pass laws, nor to debate things in the chamber, nor to serve on committees, nor even to represent constituents. We are there primarily to stop the executive abusing its powers or outgrowing the role that is laid down in the rules.
I am hopelessly romantic about your constitution and your founders, and I think if any of those guys had been brought forward in time to the late 19th Century, they would have kind of recognized the model, more or less. If they were brought forward into our present day, I think they would be quite shocked. The thing that would shock them the most is the absolute refusal of congress to assert its prerogatives.
