Republican candidate: I won't let US go the way of UK

[Errigal]

Mitt Romney: I won't let US go the way of UK


By Toby Harnden in Nashua, New Hampshire
Last Updated: 2:07am GMT 31/10/2007


The United States is in danger of becoming a "second-tier" nation like Britain and other European countries if Hillary Clinton wins the White House, according to Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential contender.


Although he gave a Hallowe'en warning of a "house of horrors" if Mrs Clinton is elected, the main bogeyman for the former Massachusetts governor's stump has become Europe, with Britain's national health service being singled out for special mention.


Speaking, ironically, to employees of BAE Systems Inc, the US subsidiary of the British defence company, in the elegant New England town of Nashua on Monday, Mr Romney said that America was at a crossroads in history.

"The question is whether we're going to become a stronger nation leading the world or whether we're going to follow the path of Europe and become a second-tier military and a second-tier nation." European countries had chosen to "become a wonderful nation but not the world's power".

America's health system should remain privately rather than government run, he insisted. "I do not want to go the way of England and Canada when it comes to healthcare," he said.

He added: "For me what America should do is strengthen our military, strengthen our economy and strengthen our family structure so that we always remain the most powerful nation on earth. A world without America as the leader is a very frightening place."

Although he praised BAE workers for keeping "our men and women safe" in Iraq and Afghanistan, he made no mention of the role of British troops in either country or of BAE's work with UK forces.


Mr Romney leads polls in the crucial first-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, leading many Republican strategists to conclude that he is better placed to win his party's White House nomination than Rudy Giuliani, the clear national front runner.

At an earlier campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, some 20 miles north of Nashua, Mr Romney spoke proudly of how Americans "threw off the reins of Great Britain" during the Revolutionary War of 1775-83.
"We also changed the relationship between the citizen and the state," he said.

"Prior to the declaration, the state was the sovereign, the Divine Right of kings and so forth, and the citizens were the servants and the declaration flipped that ... the individual became the sovereign and the state became the servant .

"And that, as they say, has made all the difference. America became a land of freedom and opportunity and liberties and we become the most powerful nation in the history of the earth."

Democrats, he argued, wanted to make the United States like Europe.
"Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John Edwards will take America in a sharp left turn towards Europe with big government, big taxes, Big Brother running your lives," he said.

"The other course, if you will, is the house that Ronald Reagan built, which is based upon personal responsibilities, individual liberties, strong families, love of country, strong economy, keeping government small and standing up to our challenges around the world. That is the course that has the most promise for America's future."

Mr Romney was a Mormon missionary in France in the 1960s and a campaign strategy document leaked in February revealed that criticising Europe in general and France in particular would be a central theme of his campaign.
The document stated that the European Union wants to "drag America down to Europe's standards" and added: "That's where Hillary and Dems would take us. Hillary = France."

There was even a plan at one time for "First, not France" bumper stickers to be produced by the Romney campaign.

But the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as French president appears to have given a reprieve. In Manchester, he suggested that Europe might not be a lost cause.

"Many of their leaders are now turning towards our approach," he said.
Mr Romney's anti-Europe stump speech went down well with most of his audience in Manchester, though one woman called out "good" when he described how the state ran most health services in Europe.

Norma Champagne, 74, a former state congresswoman, said: "I just decided today to vote for him. He's calm and very natural. He right about Europe - we're an independent country and we should stay that way. Giuliani? I'm tired of 9/11. John McCain's too old."

Her friend Clare Roy said: "I don't want socialised medicine. We're free to go to the doctors we want and not be told by the government."


Mr Giuliani has been the most scathing in his criticism of Britain's health service, citing statistics during his recent visit to London of significantly better cure rates in the United States.


But he is an ardent admirer of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and recently told the "Des Moines Register" in Iowa that the UK was "a country I could live in", along with Israel and Italy, if he had to leave the US.

Mr McCain and Mr Obama also told the newspaper that Britain was a place where they would like to settle if they had to live in another country, while Mrs Clinton said she was "too obsessed" with America to live anywhere else. Mr Romney was not asked the question.

Mitt Romney: I won\'t let US go the way of UK - Telegraph