# Enoch Powell Created Farage. Here's How | Aaron Bastani Meets Tom McTague

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYXxMk9PtRs
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/DYXxMk9PtRs
Generated: 2025-09-21T16:01:14.289+00:00

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## Quick Overview

Tom McTague's book 'Between the Waves' argues that Brexit is not a historical spasm but the culmination of an 80-year intellectual and political evolution within British conservatism, tracing its roots from post-WWII figures like Enoch Powell and Jean Monnet to Nigel Farage's political ascent. McTague emphasizes how a persistent, long-term ideological campaign, often underestimated by the left, fundamentally reshaped British politics and led to the UK's exit from the EU, challenging notions of inevitability in political change.

**Key Points:**
- Nigel Farage's political trajectory is presented as a direct consequence of the long-term intellectual and political groundwork laid by figures like Enoch Powell, who championed euroskepticism and British nationalism over decades.
- The book 'Between the Waves' traces the history of Brexit back to the 1940s, highlighting the actions and ideas of figures such as Jean Monnet, Harold Macmillan, Charles de Gaulle, and Enoch Powell, who shaped post-war European and British policy.
- Enoch Powell's political journey is detailed, from his early imperialist ambitions in India and his disillusionment with its independence to his later role as a foundational figure for euroskepticism and British nationalism, often acting outside the mainstream conservative thought.
- Margaret Thatcher's rise to power in 1975 and her eventual embrace of euroskepticism are examined, showing how she, initially a moderate, was influenced by the intellectual currents championed by groups like the Conservative Philosophy Group, a movement aimed at shifting the country's post-1945 political groove.
- The Cold War's end in 1990 is identified as a crucial turning point that removed the overarching anti-Soviet foreign policy principle, creating the space for euroskepticism to become a dominant force in British politics.
- The book challenges the idea that Brexit was a sudden event, instead framing it as the result of an 80-year process involving intellectual campaigning, institutional influence, and a persistent ideological fight back, often misunderstood by progressives.
- McTague argues that centrists often dismiss the importance of ideas in politics, a stark contrast to the historical trajectory of both American conservatism and British euroskepticism, which demonstrate the power of long-term ideological campaigning.

**Context:** This analysis stems from an interview with Tom McTague, author of 'Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution,' who discusses the origins and evolution of Brexit. The conversation delves into the intellectual and political history of British conservatism, particularly focusing on figures like Enoch Powell, Margaret Thatcher, and Jean Monnet, to explain how the conditions for Brexit were cultivated over decades, rather than being a spontaneous event. The interview contrasts the long-term strategic thinking of euroskeptics with the perceived short-sightedness of political centrists and the left.

## Detailed Analysis

Tom McTague's book, 'Between the Waves,' posits that Brexit was not an isolated incident but the culmination of an 80-year intellectual and political project, significantly shaped by conservative thinkers and strategists. McTague traces this lineage from figures like Enoch Powell, whose post-imperial disillusionment with India's independence spurred a focus on British nationalism and a deep-seated euroskepticism, to Jean Monnet, a key architect of European integration. The book highlights how Powell, initially an imperialist and later an anti-American, euroskeptic figure, became a foundational influence for movements that eventually led to Brexit, embodying a quest for ideological purity that sometimes led to self-sabotage. Margaret Thatcher's political evolution is also central; initially seen as a moderate, she was influenced by intellectual groups like the Conservative Philosophy Group, which aimed to shift the nation's post-1945 political direction. The end of the Cold War in 1990 is identified as a critical juncture, removing the dominant anti-Soviet foreign policy imperative that had aligned many conservatives with European integration, thereby creating an opening for euroskepticism to flourish. McTague criticizes the centrist dismissal of the power of ideas in politics, contrasting it with the historical success of long-term ideological campaigns, exemplified by both American conservatism and the British euroskeptic movement, which he argues is often underestimated by the left. The book emphasizes that political change is not inevitable and can be achieved through persistent ideological and organizational efforts over extended periods, challenging the notion that political success is solely dependent on electoral victories.

### Interview Key Figures

- Tom McTague (Author)
- Aaron Bastani (Interviewer)
- Enoch Powell
- Jean Monnet
- Margaret Thatcher
- Nigel Farage
- Harold Macmillan
- Charles de Gaulle

### Core Argument

- Brexit as an 80-year culmination of conservative intellectual and political strategy, not a spasm
- Emphasis on long-term ideological campaigning and institutional influence

### Historical Roots

- Post-WWII context
- North Africa meeting of Monnet, Powell, Macmillan, De Gaulle in 1942
- Powell's imperial disillusionment and turn to British nationalism
- Thatcher's embrace of euroskepticism influenced by Conservative Philosophy Group

### Turning Points

- End of the Cold War (1990) creating space for euroskepticism
- Contrast between conservative long-term strategy and centrist dismissal of ideas

### Enoch Powell's Influence

- From imperialist to post-imperialist
- Quest for purity and self-sabotage
- Foundational figure for euroskepticism and anti-Americanism

### Thatcher's Evolution

- From moderate to euroskeptic
- Influence of intellectual currents
- Shift in post-war political direction

### The Role of Ideas

- Underestimation by the left and centrists
- Power of persistent ideological campaigning
- Challenging notions of political inevitability