The warning by the so called Tory `grandees' that European integration represents an opportunity and not a threat to the British interest, and last night's tough speech by the former Tory Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath, could hardly have been more timely. They come just as the British government unilaterally suspended its selective cattle cull agreed in Florence; in June in an effort to combat the BSE scare and follow remarks by the Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, which were openly critical of the drive towards monetary and political union.
These actions will be widely seen as an attempt by the Major government to assuage the Eurosceptics in the Tory ranks in advance of next month's party conference and in the run up to the general election.
Mr Rifkind's speech made in Zurich to mark the 50th anniversary of Winston's Churchill's speech was especially significant; but whereas Churchill had made the case for a United States of Europe, Mr Rifkind rejected what he termed "the ratchet of European integration. We cannot treat the EU as an experiment in a sanitised political laboratory", he declared. The statement from the Tory grandees - signed by some of the most senior party figures, including Sir Edward Heath, Lord Whitelaw, Mr Douglas Hurd and the EU Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan - serves as a warning shot against those like Mr Rifkind - and Mr Major himself - who continue to maintain no more than a semi detached relationship with Europe. In stirring words they write that Britain's future lies as a "committed member of a interdependent Europe the British instinct is to lead, not walk away".
To his credit, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, also pointed to the dangers of British policy in a thoughtful and provocative address to the European Parliament on Wednesday in which he spelt out the main priorities of the Irish Presidency of the EU. This was a welcome departure from the non committal approach which often marks public pronouncements by Ministers on the most contentious European issues. Instead, Mr Bruton pointed out the contradiction between Britain's constant criticism of the EU and its eagerness to see other countries join. Some countries, he said acidly, were slow to realise that they needed the EU more than it needed them.
Mr Bruton has struck at the heart of the issue; it is long past time that British Eurosceptics began to acknowledge the strong political will across Europe that is now driving the monetary union project. The political reality is that monetary union is now virtually certain to materialise, irrespective of British objections. Indeed, this weekend EU finance ministers will continue work on drafting the rules governing the monetary union when they meet in Dublin.
Mr Major, Mr Rifkind and other senior Tory ministers are quite right to raise legitimate questions about the practicalities of monetary union, notably about the relationship between those who are "in" and those who are "out". But there is little to be gained from rehearsing old battles about the fundamentals of monetary and political union., Any such move is bound to be counter productive; it will exacerbate tensions in the Tory ranks and more importantly, it will further diminish British influence in Europe.