A More Perfect Union
The Europe We Need
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A More Perfect Union
Narrated by:
Marina Wheeler
Buy Now for £17.94
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Narrated by:
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Marina Wheeler
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By:
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Marina Wheeler
About this listen
DAILY TELEGRAPH
China's rise and Russian aggression have upended the global balance of power. The US has proven an unstable partner. Illiberalism is gaining ground. It's time to admit that Europe is once again central to Britain's future.
The Continent houses our allies and friends. We still trade more with the EU than with anyone else. Like a court order in a divorce, the Brexit deal contains our bare legal obligations. Yet as dangerous forces gather and global technologies stoke animosity, we have a wider duty. If Britain and Europe can't work together, what chance do democracy and the rule of law have?
The Labour Party aims for a 'reset'. Barrister and mediator Marina Wheeler proposes something more radical: a roadmap towards a meaningful rapprochement. In A More Perfect Union, she tackles the political anxieties and identity crises on both sides of the Channel, and makes the case that transforming this relationship is now critical if our fundamental political liberties are to survive another generation. Concise, forensic, devastating, it is essential reading no matter which side you were on.
The bitterness of the past decade is receding. It's time to build a union that honours the 40 years we were together.©2025 Marina Wheeler
Critic reviews
Timely, necessary and impeccably researched . . . Should be required reading for anyone interested in Europe. And even more so for anyone interested in Britain (JUDITH WOODS)
Wheeler may be right. Time moves on, humans can stop sulking, find strength in compromise and create something new . . . This is a serious and practical thinker (LIBBY PURVES)
Deliciously short and admirably lucid, this little book has the power to heal the wounds of Brexit. As a tribal Remainer I found myself nodding far more than I expected (LUCY KELLAWAY, author of Re-educated)
A rousing defence . . . Sharp, and extremely likeable (CHARLOTTE IVERS)
A principled, personal and refreshingly readable take on Britain's relationship with the rest of Europe, a mix of memoir and battle cry, imbued - whatever your views - with a decency and intelligence that is courageous, rare and valuable (PHILIPPE SANDS, author of 38 Londres Street)
It is elegant, deft and convincing - from Eisenhower, to Benedict Anderson, to The Leopard (JOHN BEW, author of Citizen Clem)
A must for all who wish to see a flourishing relationship between the UK and its European neighbours. Covering succinctly but accurately the UK's near 50-year membership, the author's 'tough love' description explains in vivid detail how she, a lifelong Europhile, reluctantly decided that the UK should leave the EU. Yet the UK and Europe now need each other even more than in the past. The author's call for a profound rethink of how a new relationship could be forged, respecting all sides, is both inspiring and timely (CHRISTOPHER BELLAMY KC, former EU judge)
As a remainer who would probably now vote to leave, I found this thoroughly enjoyable. If you find yourself tearing your hair out at the failure of the current government to make use of the UK's new nimbleness on the world stage, I suspect that you will too. The material on the European Court of Justice is especially eye-opening (JEREMY HUNT, author of Can We Be Great Again? and former UK Foreign Secretary)
Weaving history, politics and law, Wheeler offers valuable insights overlooked in the heated debates of the recent past and bold suggestions on how we might create a better and more enduring Union. By voting to leave the EU in 2016, we did not turn our back on shared European values, nor did we renounce our international duties and responsibilities. We rejected membership of a supra-national institution, unwilling to create the democratic checks and balances citizens have a right to expect. Even though I thought I had read most things on the subject, I came away with new ways of looking at it (GISELA STUART, Former Labour MP, Presidium Member on the Convention on the Future of Europe and Chair of Vote Leave)
And to expose the damage caused by Farage as an MEP who openly abused Van Rompuy. In Westminster,he'd have been removed from the Chamber. Now he's a potential UK PM .
So,it would be useful in the context of a democratic discussion about Europe to consider the appalling state of the British democracy which allows Labour to have a ludicrous majority on 1/3rd of the vote and 20% of the electorate.And also to expose UK legal judgements on the ECHR versus those from Strasbourg itself.
I believe that the UK can never "get" Europe until it becomes used to collegiate politics meaning election pacts and coalitions.
The UK is also extraordinarily Westminster centric except increasingly in Wales and Scotland.
Where Marina "nails it" imho is talking about defence.
To summarise, it's a very useful thought provoking primer that pulls an awful lot together but leaves out some key elements. Her dad - a leviathan of journalism - would be proud.
Fascinating History
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