Welcome to Mr. Lubbers, Mr. van den Broek and their officials.
We still remember with great pleasure the State Visit last November of Her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands and His Royal Highness, Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It was an outstandingly successful event and a tremendous demonstration of the friendship between the people of the Netherlands and Britain.
Today, a special welcome to Mr. Lubbers on his first official visit to Britain as Prime Minister. To be Prime Minister at 43 is, if I may say so, not bad going.
With countries as close to us as the Netherlands it is not necessary to rehearse the things that bind us. [end p1]
Everyone in this rooms knows of:– — our joint respect for the institution of monarchy. — our shared history. — our imperial experience, which has given us both a special vision of the world. — our maritime background. — our immensely strong links in trade and tourism.
Some of you may be less aware of the role played in Anglo/Dutch relations by the man with whom this street and house is connected—George Downing. A murky role it was, too.
At the age of 26 he was Chief of Intelligence Staff to Cromwell 's forces. Six years later he was made Ambassador to the Hague where he devoted much of his energy to spying on our [end p2] then great trading and naval rival. In 1664 he was given the lease of the site on which this house stands. He then fell foul of Charles II who took a great dislike of him and sent him back to the Hague. But Dutch indignation against Downing, because no doubt of his previous activities, was such that within three months he had to flee the country. He was promptly arrested for deserting his post and clapped in the Tower for six weeks. They knew how to deal with Ambassadorial shortcomings in those days.
Those days of rivalry and conflict are long past. Our present Ambassador does not have the same [end p3] instructions as George Downing. His task is to do all he can to promote the closest friendship with a country for whom Britain has nothing but respect and admiration.
Our two countries have an instinctive understanding for each other. We share a passion for liberty and democracy. We are practical people who believe in principle and commonsense. We are free-traders. We are committed members of the European Community and of NATO.
For all these reasons we find people of the Netherlands the easiest of visitors. [end p4] We agree about most things. Where we disagree we know that our habit of sensible discussion can resolve the problem.