Kaminski, Europe and the scrutiny on Tory judgement that’s not going to go away

By Mike Katz

As today’s Guardian editorial makes clear, the row over the Tories’ far-right European allies won’t go away.

It is basically an argument about their lack of judgement – displayed yet again by their decision to invite two leading lights, Michal Kaminski (leader of the new ECR Group) and Latvian Robert Zile, to their party conference.

It is clear from the interview Kaminski gave to Martin Bright, the Jewish Chronicle’s political editor, that he still has some questions to answer. As Bright says in his analysis:

“He says he believes the massacre of as many as 400 Jews by the Poles of Jedwabne should be considered a lesser crime than those carried out by the Nazi regime. This is intellectually and morally unsustainable.”

In another interview he gave whilst in Manchester, to blogger Iain Dale Kaminski refutes claims that Michael Shudrich, the Polish Chief Rabbi, called him anti-Semitic. Yet the truth came out this weekend when the New Statesman’s James McIntyre (the source of the allegation) revealed the source email, where the Rabbi said:

“…it is clear that Mr Kaminski was a member of NOP, a group that is openly far-right and neo-Nazi. Anyone who would want to align himself with a person who was an active member of NOP and the Committee to Defend the Good Name of Jedwabne…needs to understand with what and by whom he is being represented.”

Clearly, it is dawning on the Tories that this story isn’t going to go away. In a strong commentary of the controversy at the time over the Jedwabne apology, Toby Helm of the Observer adds that:

“The Tories have been desperate to close the Kaminski story down by denials and bullying, marshalling no facts along the way.”

Andy Coulson’s tactics here have clearly alienated some journalists. As Jane Merrick of the Independent put it:

“What I would take issue with…is the content of the [Tories'] statement…saying they are concerned about the “politically motivated allegations made by the Labour Party and their allies”. I am alarmed that reporters, including myself, are being referred to as “allies” of the Labour Party. This is not true.”

Finally, it is clear that the Tories’ attempts to co-op the British Jewish community into supporting the move is starting to unravel. Vivian Wineman, the President of the Board of Deputies, British Jewry’s leading representative body, has written to David Cameron seeking reassurances about the Tories’ new allies.

So what was the Tories’ response to this reasonable move? A statement said that the Board had been swayed by “politically motivated allegations made by the Labour party”.

All the Tories’ bullying doesn’t change one of the killer consequences of this controversy: that other centre-right Europeans have noticed that the Tories aren’t serious about Europe. Fresh from wining the German general election, Angela Merkel’s CDU party has downgraded relations with the Conservatives. Joint policy groups have been scrapped and an annual meeting has been cancelled.

This comes at a time when there are signs that the old Franco-German EU bloc is re-emerging, a coalition which froze Britain under the Tories out of European decision-making, and which only Labour’s commitment to European principles, like the social chapter, thawed out.

Cameron’s rationale for forming the new ECR group was that the mainstream centre-right EPP was too federalist. The rich irony is that the Kaminski, the man Cameron acceded to becoming ECR leader, is actually pro-Lisbon:

“I was on the side of those who were in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. It is well known in Poland. It is not a secret,” he told the Jewish Chronicle.

Due to some determined research by journalists and campaigners, this distasteful episode continues to be a thorn in Cameron’s side, and it raises real question about his judgement. He is willing to lose influence in Europe, rather than lose face with the Eurosceptics in his own party.

That’s fine while they’re in opposition – although it is shameful that any mainstream British party would ally itself with such dodgy characters in Brussels – but it would be a disaster if it formed a central plank of this country’s foreign policy.

Mike Katz is a vice-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement.