Task 14.1 Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s speech
Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Llandudno outlined a vision of the UK at the centre of “three majestic circles”.
Winston Churchill’s Speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Llandudno, Wales, October 9, 1948. Excerpt.
[W]e support the foreign policy of His Majesty's Government in labouring for peace, in taking a firm stand against the encroachments and aggressions of Soviet Russia, and in not being bullied, bulldozed and blackmailed out of Berlin whatever the consequences may be. We support them in developing the closest possible unity with the United States on moral issues and in military measures. We support them also in trying to organize the effective defence of Western Europe and making a faithful effort towards a United Europe by all States who are free to choose their path.
[…] I cannot think, and here I come to the issue which I know is much in your minds, that the policy of a United Europe as we Conservatives conceive it can be the slightest injury to our British Empire and Commonwealth or to the principle of Imperial Preference which I so carefully safe-guarded in all my discussions with President Roosevelt during the war. We in the Conservative Party will vigilantly guard and do all in our power to strengthen the ties which unite this Island and all the sister nations of the British family. The unity of the Empire is the foundation of our Party's political belief to which we shall remain eternally faithful. But there is absolutely no need to choose between a United Empire and United Europe. Both are vitally and urgently necessary to our Commonwealth, to Europe, and to the free world as a whole.
As I look out upon the future of our country in the changing scene of human destiny I feel the existence of three great circles among the free nations and democracies. I almost wish I had a blackboard. I would make a picture for you. I don't suppose it would get hung in the Royal Academy, but it would illustrate the point I am anxious for you to hold in your minds. The first circle for us is naturally the British Commonwealth and Empire, with all that that comprises. Then there is also the English-speaking World in which we, Canada, and the other British Dominions and the United States play so important a part. And finally there is United Europe. These three majestic circles are coexistent and if they are linked together there is no force or combination which could overthrow them or even challenge them. Now if you think of the three inter-linked circles you will see that we are the only country which has a great part in every one of them. We stand, in fact, at the very point of junction, and here in this Island at the centre of the seaways and perhaps of the airways also have the opportunity of joining them all together. If we rise to the occasion in the years that are to come it may be found that once again we hold the key to opening a safe and happy future to humanity, and will gain for ourselves gratitude and fame.
Task 14.2 Discuss: “Punch Above Your Weight”
Watch the BBC Learning English video about the idiom to “punch above your weight” (2 min. 38 sec.) and read the definitions on Urban Dictionary.
