Monday, 25th August 2008

The idea of having an "EU team" to compete in the Olympics is wrong-headed and must be firmly resisted, writes Jonathan Arnott.

The phrase “You Couldn't Make It Up” sounds more and more hollow every month as, sadly, the latest bizarre ideas become all too predictable. Now there is a suggestion by the taxpayer-funded Young European Federalists to field an EU team at the next Olympics in order to beat China.

No one seems to have paused to consider the effect that it would have on promising British athletes who would already have to compete against 26 other countries just to be selected for the team. How many hundreds of British competitors would be denied the chance to compete in the greatest Games in the world?

There has been no Great Britain football team at the Olympics in recent years because of the logistical difficulties involved in arranging for English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish players to train together. Who would manage such a team? How would the team be selected to be fair to each nation? Which FA would oversee the team?

These wrinkles will probably be ironed out by 2012. But imagine the difficulties involved in a full EU team where 27 countries would all be scrapping for places in the team. Imagine the language difficulties involved in training for team sports. Where would it all end? An Asian team to beat the EU team, or perhaps an African team? Whatever happened to the diversity of nations that are represented in the rich tapestry of the Olympic Games?

The reason given for having an EU team is to counter “nationalism”. But it seems that they have managed to fall for the classic mistake of confusing nationalism with patriotism.

I have never seen anyone use the Olympic Games as an excuse for jingoism or racism; the skills and talents of the world's greatest athletes are showcased for all to see. I don't recall much hatred or opposition when Usian Bolt smashed the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres and (jointly) the 4 x 100 metres relay. The British press and public simply applauded the skills of the fastest man on the planet.

That is what the Olympic Games are all about: celebrating the essence of humanity, our constant pursuit of excellence and spurring ourselves on to greater success.

That should be the mindset of any true patriot. We may love our country, be proud of our national achievements (and weep for our national failings) but we must also have the sportsmanship to admire the successes of others, and to be gracious in victory rather than denigrate the opposition. Patriotism is a wonderful thing, a tool to bring our young people together with confidence and self-belief.

Who really feels an affinity for the artificial political construct that is the EU? Does anyone feel truly loyal to Sweden and Finland but not to Norway and Iceland, or to Italy and Luxembourg but not to Switzerland? And even if by some miracle we did feel such an affinity, it would suffer from the same mindless 'football hooligan' nationalism as any nation state.
If we want to eliminate such hooliganism, then we need to promote the positive concept of pride in our nation and its achievements. Our country can choose to be a positive role model or a negative one; our choice is to either undermine patriotism or to use it as a tool to build a bright future for our nation.

Those who seek to rewrite our history and destroy our common values as a nation must take a large portion of the blame when more and more of our young people lack vision and turn to extremism.

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