By Ben Kelly, blogger and editor of The Sceptic Isle.

The recent plea from Nile Gardiner of the influential US think-tank The Heritage Foundation was a pleasing reminder that there are still some voices in the US who see the merits of an independent United Kingdom. It is unfortunate that official US policy is to compel Britain to remain within the union as part of its desire to see a united Europe modelled on its own image.

Such homogeneity is easier to interact with diplomatically and also easier to manipulate and handle in matters of foreign affairs, such has been the case in US support for a politically loaded association agreement between the EU and Ukraine.

The US administration has little time for the concerns of British EU-sceptics, such as conserving the independence of our legal system and our foreign, economic and security policy, and restoring the sovereignty of parliament. This is a shame because a Britain integrated into the EU and unable to act independently will be a limited ally and a far weaker friend to the United States.

American conservatives especially should see the merits in an independent UK. They have in the past called for greater economic ties, they should also champion the conservation of our culture of liberty, law, government and economic freedom; the sturdy foundations their own great country is built upon. These are our common traits and they are being eroded and threatened by EU integration.

In 1952, then-U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that “Britain has lost an empire but has failed to find a role.” Its role should have been one befitting the mother of the Anglo-sphere. A role as a global champion of the liberty, democracy and rule of law nurtured on this island and spread across the globe.

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