The EU abandoned Christian ideals long ago
SIR – In defence of the EU, Piers Paul Read remarks: “The laws passed in my lifetime that are truly inimical to Christian values, such as those on abortion, cloning, or same-sex marriage and adoption, were passed not in Brussels or Strasbourg but Westminster” (Charterhouse, July 8). But the EU has leaned on staunchly Catholic countries like Ireland, Poland and Malta to abandon strict anti-abortion laws, and new members must introduce “gender equality” and abortion as a pre-condition of entry to the progressive “club”. True, our 1967 Abortion Act was passed before the UK’s entry into the EU, but – along with other “progressive” measures – it was orchestrated by Labour home secretary Roy Jenkins, arch-Europhile and elitist who, arguably, also delivered EU entry for the UK. Moreover, our Abortion Act proved to be a catalyst as restrictive abortion laws throughout Europe were knocked down. The EU is a beautiful idea, but it is a terrible reality; in contrast, the Church is a terrible idea but a beautiful reality, for in the pursuit of prosperity and security the latter relies on self-sacrifice while the former relies on sacrificing the weakest on the altar of short-term economic gain. The EU may have begun with high Christian ideals but it discarded them long ago. If the EU has a religion, it is progressivism, and the fact that the would-be super-state is dying on its feet demonstrates that progressivism is of its nature regressive. Yours faithfully, Ann Farmer (Mrs) Woodford Green, Essex
