Blair’s Obsession with a legacy sees Britain lose out again
The deal on the budget last night has seen Britain, arguably the most Eurosceptic member of the EU, coming off worst and the most popular aspect of the EU in the eyes of Britons suffering. No doubt the breakfast television channels tomorrow will be full of representatives from the New Labour spin machine defending the indefensible.
On 8th June 2005 in PMQs, Tony Blair said: “The UK rebate will remain and we will not negotiate it away. Period.” Shortly after that the tune started to change to one where it was open to negotiation – as long as there was reform of the CAP. All of this as a result of Blair’s desperation to secure a deal on the EU budget so that his otherwise failed Presidency of the EU can be rescued. From Britain’s perspective the deal last night turns his Presidency from a failure to a disaster.
Over the last week we have seen Blair resort to the tactics of desperation; slowly drip-feeding more and more of the rebate into the equation until the French and the East Europeans finally agreed he had given enough. Perhaps the worst part is that the most important aspect of the EU suffers as a result. Bringing other countries into the EU, and enabling them to prosper is, arguably, the role that gives the EU its future, but the budget settlement reduces payments to the new members. Mark Mardell, in this article for the BBC, describes Blair’s tactics as that of “mugging someone and then offering them first a fiver and then a tenner back out of their own wallet.”
Blair and the spin machine will, I am sure, claim that all this was worth it because of the review of the CAP that will be forthcoming. However, this is a significant change in the language earlier this year. Even after Blair had started to cave, he was using language that linked reform of the CAP to handing back the rebate – instead the best he has got is a review in a few years time (which the French will almost certainly reject if it is not in their interests) and no guarantee of when any resulting reform will take effect.
Putting it bluntly, Britain has handed an additional £1bn to an organisation about which it is increasingly sceptical and has received nothing in return.
It is plain that Blair’s obsession with creating a legacy out of his disastrous premiership overtook the need to protect Britain and the EU’s long term interests. Once again Blair has put his own self-interest above those of the people he represents – it is exactly what he did over Iraq. He will now resort to the same tactics as then – using the Spin machine to deceive the public about what it all really means.
On 8th June 2005 in PMQs, Tony Blair said: “The UK rebate will remain and we will not negotiate it away. Period.” Shortly after that the tune started to change to one where it was open to negotiation – as long as there was reform of the CAP. All of this as a result of Blair’s desperation to secure a deal on the EU budget so that his otherwise failed Presidency of the EU can be rescued. From Britain’s perspective the deal last night turns his Presidency from a failure to a disaster.
Over the last week we have seen Blair resort to the tactics of desperation; slowly drip-feeding more and more of the rebate into the equation until the French and the East Europeans finally agreed he had given enough. Perhaps the worst part is that the most important aspect of the EU suffers as a result. Bringing other countries into the EU, and enabling them to prosper is, arguably, the role that gives the EU its future, but the budget settlement reduces payments to the new members. Mark Mardell, in this article for the BBC, describes Blair’s tactics as that of “mugging someone and then offering them first a fiver and then a tenner back out of their own wallet.”
Blair and the spin machine will, I am sure, claim that all this was worth it because of the review of the CAP that will be forthcoming. However, this is a significant change in the language earlier this year. Even after Blair had started to cave, he was using language that linked reform of the CAP to handing back the rebate – instead the best he has got is a review in a few years time (which the French will almost certainly reject if it is not in their interests) and no guarantee of when any resulting reform will take effect.
Putting it bluntly, Britain has handed an additional £1bn to an organisation about which it is increasingly sceptical and has received nothing in return.
It is plain that Blair’s obsession with creating a legacy out of his disastrous premiership overtook the need to protect Britain and the EU’s long term interests. Once again Blair has put his own self-interest above those of the people he represents – it is exactly what he did over Iraq. He will now resort to the same tactics as then – using the Spin machine to deceive the public about what it all really means.
posted by Martin Curtis at 4:44 PM
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