The wrong man for the job?
Peter Hoskin 2:27pm
Malcolm Rifkind writes an acerbic article over at Comment is Free, on why Tony Blair shouldn't fill the role of EU President. He has two key points: 1) The role's not that powerful, and 2) Blair spells bad news for Europe. Rifkind lets loose on the second of these:
"Ultimately, however, the question is whether Blair is the appropriate person to do the job. The answer to that has to be no. At the time of the Iraq war, he divided Europe in a way not seen for 40 years. His foolish decision to side so unequivocally with George W Bush has damaged his own credibility across Europe to such an extent that he would find it difficult to forge a consensus on political issues or to speak on Europe's behalf.
Blair's own political record on Europe is hardly covered in glory. He came to office promising to put Britain at the heart of Europe. He left office with Britain no closer to Europe's heart that when he began. On the single currency, Blair did not even get as far as calling a referendum. He negotiated opt-outs from the EU's immigration policies, from its police and justice policies and from the Schengen agreement. His strategy of pursuing a Europe á la carte was very much in the tradition of the last Conservative government. One may even be tempted to remark that when it came to Europe, Blair was Major-lite!"
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Ciaran Austin
February 8th, 2008 3:50pm Report this commentI'm sorry. How is Blair more guilty of dividing Europe than, say, Chirac? The truth is that Rifkind is an utterly discredited advocate of the "realist" school of foreign policy. The real contrast should be between Major and Rifkind's handling of Bosnia (a stain on Britain's reputation) and Blair and Cook's of Kosovo (maybe not perfect, but a darn good try).
W. Lambeth
February 8th, 2008 4:17pm Report this commentThe recent trend to chopping up articles means that attempting to read th Coffee House takes too much time. One starts to read an article then has to wait while the continuation downloads. Having read the continuation one has to go back to the main page, another wait and then scroll down to the next article and go through the same procedure all over again. This leads to one not bothering to visit the site which is presumably not your intention.
Anne Winter
February 8th, 2008 4:32pm Report this commentRifkind is a rabid Europhiliac who'd prefer us to be wholly governed by the European Commission. As ever, EU Referendum sees clearly: http://tinyurl.com/2uftvx
Travis Bickle
February 8th, 2008 5:39pm Report this commentYou have to admit though , what delicious irony if, after 10 years of plotting to get rid of him, Brown's treachery over the EU Treaty puts Blair back as his boss.
Fergus Pickering
February 8th, 2008 6:09pm Report this commentI must say I've never seen the point of Europe - as far as Britain's concerned I mean. They don't speak English and they don't play cricket. What better short definition of foreigner can there be? Is there really anybody who feels closer to a Frenchman (excellent fellow though he may be) than an Australian?
Richard
February 8th, 2008 6:12pm Report this commentThe man is a disgrace and makes one ashamed to be British. Is he not content with his 10 years of criminal negligence and the destruction of the United Kingdom? Once the Blairite ideal is achieved we will no longer be either United or a Kingdom so we will be renamed "the Dom". The last Blair election was a fine demonstration worthy of a banana republic. However it was still a bit too much hard work. Europe is the Blairite ideal: the utopia in which there is no longer the need to bother with elections at all.
Max Kaye
February 8th, 2008 6:49pm Report this commentIt is sad that a one-time Tory minister has declined so far that he finds his natural intellectual home in the poisonous swamps of CiF.
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