In September 1988, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher delivered a keynote speech to the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium in which she outlined her view of Britain's place in Europe. It was a defining speech that inspired the creation of the Bruges Group which promoted the idea of a less centralized Europe.
In that famous speech, Thatcher said:
"Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions and identity. It would be folly to try to fit them into some sort of identikit European personality."
"I want to see us work more closely on the things we can do better together than alone. Europe is stronger when we do so, whether it be in trade, in defense or in our relations with the rest of the world. But working more closely together does not require power to be centralized in Brussels or decisions to be taken by an appointed bureaucracy. "
Her remarks were prescient. Speaking four years before the signing of the Maastricht Treaty that paved the way for the European Union as it is today, she was arguing for a union of nations that worked together for a common good, without usurping national sovereignty.
Nearly 28 years on from the Bruges speech, Theresa May is set to become the prime minister whose major task is to negotiate Britain's exit from the EU. The two women have much in common.
Tough Theresa
May is known to be cool, a tough negotiator and someone who knows her brief. More importantly, having been Home Secretary since 2010, she is well versed in the machinations of Brussels. She is respected as a good listener who looks for consensus but who holds her ground.
Rob Semple, Chairman of the National Convention, welcomes Theresa back to Conservative Campaign HQ as Party Leader pic.twitter.com/rTefCuzu0J
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) 12 July 2016
Thatcher too was tough. Not for nothing was she known as the 'Iron Lady' famous for 'handbagging' anyone who got in her way. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wrote in his memoirs that Thatcher was "ice cold in pursuit of her interests" when she was negotiating the UK's budget rebate at a European summit in 1984.
Theresa May is also known to be a calculating negotiator with nerves of steel. She was famous for standing in front of the Police Federation conference in 2014 and berating them for corruption. Former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg once told a colleague:
"You know, I've grown to rather like Theresa May… She's a bit of an Ice Maiden and has no small talk whatsoever — none."
As May moves into Downing Street and begins the process of negotiating Britain's new relationship with the EU, the words of Margaret Thatcher will be ringing in her ears:
"Certainly we want to see Europe more united and with a greater sense of common purpose. But it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, parliamentary powers and sense of national pride in one's own country; for these have been the source of Europe's vitality through the centuries."
