The problem with Anglo-Gaullism

Enoch Powell was a great admirer of General de Gaulle. That didn’t stop him, at the end of his career, rallying to the Ulster Unionist cause — rather ignoring the fact that de Gaulle happily sacrificed the French Algerians to the higher cause of France. In the same spirit as Powell, one hears talk today in conservative circles of the idea of Anglo-Gaullism; Peter Hitchens recently described himself in this way in an interview with Nigel Farage. What might this concept mean and is it true that Gaullism offers possible lessons for British conservatives today?

One problem with answering that question is that even in France it is hard to say what ‘Gaullism’ means. In his lifetime de Gaulle was a highly contested figure. There is not a politician, whether of the left or right, who does not now invoke his memory. Macron’s presidential photograph depicts him in front of a copy of de Gaulle’s war memoirs.