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The unelected supporting the unelectable?

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    The unelected supporting the unelectable?

    An all-but unelected Prime Minister unilaterally claims "Britain" supports an unelected candidate, for a job that in itself was subject to a referendum that the very unelected candidate himself said Britain would vote on ... but never did

    Some people question the machinations behind the European "project". I can't think why.

    #2
    The unelected supporting the unelectable?

    It looks as if Brown has just got round to reading that Monbiot piece that Tubby posted.

    Comment


      #3
      The unelected supporting the unelectable?

      We have an unelected head of state. Why would we change that for head of superstate?

      Comment


        #4
        The unelected supporting the unelectable?

        We haven't got an "unelected" Head of State, we've got the resultant progeny of some people who we did, indeed, fight numerous civil wars about putting on the throne (and agreeing about who would succeed them and how).

        This is off the fucking scale compared to that (if it comes to pass).

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          #5
          The unelected supporting the unelectable?

          You know, I'be been trying to find any mention at all of this story in the German press and had no success up until today, and even then the only reports that I could find said that if Blair were to stand, he would be roundly told to fuck off by the members of his own bloc.

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            #6
            The unelected supporting the unelectable?

            Yes, I see Spiegel is running that angle as a high profile story.

            I find it really difficult to give a stuff about who gets this total non-job. The member states will never cede enough real power to the centre to make the post of EU president one in which someone can make a difference. It'll just be a glorified diplomatic job.

            Blair is better off cashing his £5m a year for giving after dinner speeches and the like.

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              #7
              The unelected supporting the unelectable?

              Exactly - it's not like the position will have any kind of clout.

              Even so, it's a frightening insight into the people who populate the Westminster village. It's hard to believe how mind-bogglingly out-of-touch and un-self-aware they really are.

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                #8
                The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                This story really hammers the point about this nation being an island, in more ways than one...

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                  #9
                  The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                  That cuts both ways, though. The Spiegel article implies that the only people in Britain who objected to Blair's nomination were the Tories.

                  This is less to do with British insularity than it is to do with the Westminster bubble

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                    Non-story becomes even more of one:
                    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/29/tony-blair-european-council-presidency

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                      #11
                      The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                      Silvio Berlusconi remains his strongest backer

                      Ah. Now there's a vote of confidence.

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                        #12
                        The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                        Brown apparently told members of the Socialist block:

                        "You need to get real. This is a unique opportunity to get a progressive politician to be the president of the council."

                        Even allowing for Socialist not meaning what I think it means, it's amazing that Brown didn't know that Blair isn't progressive by EU standards.

                        Ironically, if we give any credence at all to this article, Merkel wants someone from the EPP parties to get the post, into which Blair's policies fit comfortably.

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                          #13
                          The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                          I know this story is all tittle-tattle but I must admit I like the idea of Blair thinking "Hmm, will this job be big enough for me? I don't want just to chair committees".

                          We can only hope that he is indeed given the chance to abolish all wars and stop climate change.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                            Yeah it sounds like an egocentric footballer transfer demand story: "I want a presidency that matches my ambitions..."

                            The word "progressive" has become so emptied of meaning now that I see no point in anyone using it.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                              Well, it does when comes to A.C.Blair.

                              And of course the EU could probably run Britain better than most Brit politicians have over the last few decades, unelected or not.

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                                #16
                                The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
                                We haven't got an "unelected" Head of State, we've got the resultant progeny of some people who we did, indeed, fight numerous civil wars about putting on the throne (and agreeing about who would succeed them and how).
                                So how's that not unelected? And I thought you boys won that civil war and chopped his fucking head off?

                                The money and power involved in this are fucking nothing compared to the influence over everyday UK life and pointless public funding Liz and her offspring have. Blair will basically be Chief Brussels Canape eater.

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                                  #17
                                  The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                  Not that he'll get it though. So he'll have to keep eating the canapes freelance.

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                                    #18
                                    The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                    I love the way the BBC have been covering this, as if it's Manchester United in the European Cup or Nigel Mansell in Formula One, that he's the British Bloke and we should Support The Brit and Everyone In Britain Wants Him To Have The Job, and It Looks Like Britain Will Not Be Winning This One.

                                    When, in fact, it appears that the only people who want him to have the job are Mandelson, Brown, Milliband and some media editors who want stories written for them.

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                                      #19
                                      The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                      Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
                                      We haven't got an "unelected" Head of State...
                                      Ha ha ha.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                        It's a beautiful week for David Cameron. The Czechs have signed the Lisbon Treaty so he no longer has to have a referendum on it and can claim that his hands are tied. And he can make lots of anti-eu noises about Blair in order to appeal to his eurosceptics.

                                        Lots of non-politics this week.

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                                          #21
                                          The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                          Don't underestimated the Tories ability to have a big row over whether there should be a pointless referendum. I expect someone will wheel out the old "you can't commit a future parliament to something" argument- which, to be fair, is not unknown on the left.

                                          But yeah, good week for Cameron without actually doing anything.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                            Replace "week" with "career" and you'd still be right.

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                                              #23
                                              The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                              He decontaminated the brand.

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                                                #24
                                                The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                                Why on Earth wrote

                                                Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:

                                                QUOTE:
                                                We haven't got an "unelected" Head of State...

                                                Ha ha ha.
                                                even by the standards of this board, that's a "cut-off" 'quote' that ignores the rest of the entire rest of what I went on to post, then going "ha ha ha", that really can only be served to be deliberately offensive. Rude, in fact.

                                                As used to be the standard here, "please do better".

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  The unelected supporting the unelectable?

                                                  Rogin, I'm sorry if I misread you, but the final sentence of your posting suggested to me that you weren't being ironic, and to be honest I dodn't really see what point you were making with the middle bit.

                                                  Unelected is unelected, no? And at least the EU Prez, whoever it is, will be elected by elected people. Which is pretty poor, democracy-wise, but I'd say less so if anything than the monarchy.

                                                  Comment

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