body was allowed to “lay in” at thernAbbey—a privilege granted regularly tornall long-term servants of the church.rnThe (black) Bishop of Croydon, full ofrnChristian charity, said that this privilegernshould have been withdrawn in Powell’srncase, arguing that “Enoch Powell gave arncertificate of respectability to white racistrnviews which otherwise decent peoplernwere ashamed to acknowledge.” Somernleftists were even more rancorous. YasminrnAlibhai-Brown, a writer on race relations,rnsaid in the Guardian: “I drank arnglass of expensive wine to mark the dayrnthat Enoch Powell d i e d . . . . I was ecstaticrnthat his brooding presence . . . wouldrnno more poison the possibilities that thisrncountry now offers all of us, black andrnwhite . . . the hatred and paranoia inrnhis flaming eyes were unforgettable.”rnSneered Norman Shrapnel in thernGuardian, at once insulting Powell andrnall the people of England: “Provincialismrnwas of his essence; and English Midlandrnprovincialism at that, than whichrnthere is no more introverted.”rnHowever, even Tony Blair felt compelledrnto admit: “There was no doubtingrnthe strength of his convictions or theirrnsincerity, or his tenacity in pursuingrnthem, regardless of his own politicalrnself-interest.” Tony Benn, MP, totallyrnopposed to Powell on everything exceptrnEurope, spoke warmly of Powell asrna “great Parliamentarian.” Mournersrnat the funeral included Sir DennisrnThatcher, John Major, Michael Portillo,rnJonathan Aitken, Alan Clark, ViscountrnLIBERAL ARTSrnTHE HOPE OF NATIONSrn”In every corner of the world —in everyrnvillage and city and communityrn—the United Nations is a livingrntestimony of hope. The United Nationsrnlives in the heart and mind ofrnevery citizen striving to end violencernand promote tolerance; advance developmentrnand ensure equalit)’; protectrnhuman rights and alleviaternpovert)’. The United Nations, at itsrnbest, enables the achievement ofrnthose highest of human aspirations.”rn—from The Quotable Kofi Annanrn(New York: United Nations, J^rnCranborne, Lord Parkinson, UlsterrnUnionist Party leader David Trimble,rnTony Benn, Sir Hardy Amies, and a representativernof the Queen. The servicernwas traditional Anglican, from the openingrnsentences (“I am the resurrectionrnand the life”) to the Nunc Dimittisrn(“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant departrnin peace”). The address was givenrnby Lord Biffen, formerly ConservativernMP John Biffen, and a three-verse extractrnfrom Housman’s 1896 A Shropshire Ladrnwas read: “Loveliest of trees, the cherryrnnow / Is hung with bloom along thernbough, / And stands about the woodlandrnride /Wearing white for Eastertide”—arnverse that Powell could never hear withoutrnbursting into tears.rnOutside the church, Powell partisansrngathered to pay their respects. A 76-yearoldrnfrom Basildon unfurled his St.rnGeorge’s flag and said: “We have to keeprnour mouths shut but I wanted to send offrna great English patriot myself” A red,rnwhite, and blue blossomed wreath readrn”Enoch Powell, you were right. We arernnow going to the dogs. Ninety percent ofrnpeople I know say you should have beenrnPM.” Later that day, Powell was buried,rnwearing his brigadier’s uniform, in therncemetery of the Royal WarwickshirernRegiment, in the spot he had selected 13rnyears before. Sir Patrick Cormack, MP,rnwho gave the address at the funeral service,rnsaid that Powell “had the hallmarkrnof the true gentleman — he treated e’er-rnbody exactly the same.”rnSaid Charles Moore in the Dd;7y Telegraph:rn”Apprehension of the past madernPowell’s understanding of politicalrnevents exceptionally deep and exceptionallyrnpainful. He suffered among his politicalrncontemporaries as a man with perfectrnpitch suffers among the tone-deafrnHe knew so much more than they; hernunderstood so much more; he was simultaneouslyrnso much more romanticrnand so much more rational.” Powell’srnawareness of the decline in British andrnEnglish fortunes was certainly strong.rnDuring an interview he once famouslyrnsaid, “I wish I had been killed in thernwar,” and his eyes fdled with tears.rnIt is very difficult to gauge what effectrnPowell really had on British life, but herncertainly had an enormous effect on a lotrnof influential people. As he noted in hisrnbiography of another Tory maverick,rnJoseph Chamberlain, all political careersrnend in failure, and in 1989, he admittedrnthat he might have failed, although it didrnnot mean that he was wrong. By 1995,rnhe was less despondent: “I hear my voicerncoming through in what is said.” Longrnand loud may it continue to do just that,rnand long may we listen to this voice ofrnthe intrinsic England.rnDerek Turner is the editor of Right Now!,rnpubUshed in London.rnLetter FromrnBrusselsrnby Tomislav SunicrnThe Maastricht MystiquernEven an expert must be mystified by thernlegal structures of the European UnionrnParliament and the European Commission.rnThe EU Parliament has roughlyrn620 deputies, elected every five yearsrnfrom 15 Western European states. Votersrnfrom ElU countries have no decisionrnover the election of other countries’rndeputies to the EU Parliament. Thernpresident of the EU Parliament is electedrnevery six months—enough to jiuupstartrnhis rapid wheelchair on the way inrnand out. His short-term tenure is reminiscentrnof the perpetually mismanagedrnrotational presidency of the former Yugoslavia.rnThe real power broker in the EU isrnthe European Commission, which isrncomposed of 20 members, one to twornpersons from each member country. Arncommissioner, during his tenure, cannotrnbe called to account by any single Europeanrncountry. Twenty commissionersrnthus have a decent margin of error. Norrnare they “German,” “Dutch,” or “Italian”rncommissioners; they are, legallyrnspeaking, only European officials whosernEuropean allegiances must transcendrntheir own birthplace. Although the EUrnis no state at all, it has, nonetheless,rnstrong influence on all the states of Europe,rnand particularly on newly bornrnstates in postcommunist Eastern Europe.rnE U officials can lecture themrnfreely on human rights or the free marketrnand pontificate endlessly about thernvirtues of the Maastricht monetary convergence.rnThe 20-member Commis-rn38/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn