Who'd have thought? Germany's quite nice

Efficient transport. Modern cities. An independent foreign policy. Germans have lots to smile about. Picture / Reuters.

And the winner of the World Cup is ... Germany. Yes, I know they face Argentina in the quarter-finals on Friday and could be out of the competition by the weekend. But it does not matter. They have already won.

The army of British journalists and English fans pay daily homage to the Germany they have discovered during the World Cup. This is Germany's historic victory. The reporting of the football is interspersed with spontaneous praise from fans and journalists about the ease of travel from city to city, the cleanliness of the towns, the class of the accommodation, the cycle-friendly paths that compete with the best in Holland, and the ability of cities to stage late-night festivals without them ending in a drunken brawl.

The German team is also playing quite well, of course.

Neither the British journalists nor the fans can entirely believe what they are experiencing. For two decades at least they have been brainwashed into thinking that Europe in general and Germany in particular is not working while Britain is thriving.

In Britain, the Eurosceptic media is powerful enough to change minds on its own. But in this case the newspapers fight their cause in alliance with politicians who also spread poison about a mythical "Europe".

Those visiting Germany from Britain are therefore the equivalent of Soviet travellers in the 1960s and 1970s, discovering to their bewilderment that there were attractive alternatives in the West. As they leave the football stadia with efficient ease, sit on the cheap trains that take them to their next venue, the English wonder whether Europe is so bad after all.

For more than two decades, British leaders have lectured Europe on the best ways of governing. With an insular arrogance, they have insisted that the continent would be much better off if it obeyed their modernising crusade.

Admittedly, in the message has been confused. British leaders tell France how to govern. Then they send British patients to French hospitals because the decrepit NHS cannot cope.

Still, the confusion is lost in the stridency of the message: only the Anglo-Saxon model works! Britain follows US foreign policy and is similarly influenced in economic policy.

As a result, Britain stands proud and the likes of poor old Germany lag behind. Keep clear of Europe!

Yet on a range of policy areas Germany is vindicated. Productivity is high. Across a range of indicators the economic performance of the old West Germany is as impressive as that of Britain. Germany has sustained a high level of public spending over a long period. Its infrastructure does not creak precariously.

All of this has been achieved in spite of the stress caused by reunification. If Britain had been faced with a similar challenge it would have lapsed into recession for decades.

And then there's Germany's political system, which, as New Zealanders know, ensures that no one faction can monopolise Government policy.

In advance of the war against Iraq there was much patronising talk within Downing Street about weak old Gerhard Schroeder who would like to be a world player by supporting the conflict but had to keep a pathetic eye on his precarious coalition.

The deluded view from Downing Street was that Schroeder could not govern strongly.

This compared with our mighty Prime Minister, who was allowed to decide for himself that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Britain would stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with the US.

Indeed, it has been Blair's presidential freedom to declare war on a regular basis that turned him finally against electoral reform.

He felt he needed the space to act as he saw fit and would not support a voting system that might restrict him.

What a shame there was no counter-pressure to block his determination to support George W. Bush, and to be seen supporting the US President, as there was in Germany.

If there had been a different voting system in Britain, Blair would not have been allowed to invade Iraq.

There are lessons to be learnt, and it seems that even the US is again warming to European ways. On a recent trip to Washington, former British minister Denis MacShane said that to his surprise the overwhelming message from the State Department was, "We are all Europeans now."

Yet most of the time it is the fantastical nightmare of "Europe" that traps British politicians.

No doubt, too, when the England fans and the journalists return from Germany their memories will fade. Britons who holiday in France rave about the availability of GPs at weekends, the efficiency of trains and the overall quality of life.

Then they come home and become convinced within a week or two about the perils of "Europe".

So next time a deluded British leader lectures about the failings of "Europe", the British should think of the modern trains running on time and compare them to Britain's privatised monstrosities and their 200 ticket options, nearly all absurdly expensive.

They should consider Germany's sustained investment in public services compared with their own, starved of cash for three decades, showered with money for three years, and about to be starved again.

They should reflect on a German foreign policy that saw through the dangers of forming a subservient relationship with the divided Bush Administration as it bombed Iraq.

When Britain is told that its primary duty is to follow the United States in its foreign adventures and adopt its economic liberalism in all manifestations, it should remember what happened when Germany staged the World Cup and won.

- INDEPENDENT