Stopblair.eu tries to halt Tony's march on Brussels
Will e-petition be 'President' Blair's Waterloo?
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A bunch of Europhiles are hoping to scupper Tony Blair’s bid to become president of Europe using the very same sort of e-petition-powered pop democracy he toyed with himself in his time at Number 10.
Blair, who is at a slight loose end since leaving Downing Street last year, has apparently been in discussions with potential supporters including France’s President Sarkozy about taking up the role - if he can be assured it comes with some real power.
But the prospect of our Tone being top dog in Brussels has prompted Europhiles to launch a Stop Blair campaign. This includes a petition, which can be found here which expresses “our total opposition to the nomination of Tony Blair to the Presidency of the European Council”.
They highlight the stated role of the president: “To ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council" and “ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy".
The petitioners apparently believe that role wouldn’t sit well with Blair’s record of dragging his country, largely against its will, into the War in Iraq. They go on to claim: “The steps taken by Tony Blair's government, and his complicity with the Bush administration in the illegal programme of ‘extraordinary renditions’, have led to an unprecedented decline in civil liberties.”
This according to the anti-Blairistas is “in contradiction with the terms of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is an integral part of the treaty”. Indeed, they have something of a problem with Blair’s securing an exemption for the UK from The European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
As far as the petitioners are concerned, it is “unthinkable that the first President of the European Council should be the former head of a government that kept its country out of two key elements of the construction of Europe: the Schengen area of free movement of people and the Euro zone”.
Of course, this is where they’ve shot themselves in the foot. There are plenty of people in the UK who would hate to see Blair rolling up his shirt sleeves in Brussels and tossing his blazer over his shoulders in Strasbourg. Unfortunately for the petitioners, many of those anti-Blairites also wear blue ties and would hate to see Britain in both Schengen and the Euro.
Still, that little problem won’t be the death of the petition. Rather it will be the fact that Brussels is more than likely to pay the same heed to online petitions as Blair did – ie, sod all. ®
COMMENTS
No vote?
Well, if we're not voting, let's put Chuck in as King of Europe. Seeing as the arch bish of Canterbury has sold the pass, he could be Defender of the Faith while he was at it.
We would need to attack the soft underbelly of Europe to sort the Catholics out, then we would have completed the Reformation.
What could possibly go wrong?
Sorry.. many typos... plus
I cannot remember voting for Barosso..... he emerged, like a slug from the dark recesses beneath a stone.
Do you think it will be any different in the case of Blair?
BTW: the only national political party in the UK that is unequivocal about withdrawal from the EU and the institution of Swiss-style democracy in the UK is the NON-RACIST, NON-SECTARIAN, UKIP..... Fortunately they are run by a bunch of amateurs that just have a sense of outrage about these things, they all come from non-political background (which makes them reasonably honest) and they all come from different viewpoints to unite around the main point. Amongst their prominent members are former card-carrying members of the Socialist Workers party, the original Liberal party (not LibDums), Labour and Conservative parties; none, apart from Roger Knapman (a former Conservative party whip) have ever been active career politicians in their former lives.
So, for anyone that is outraged at the total lack of democracy that is espoused by the so-called main political parties, I suggest that at the next general election, we deprive these parties of a vote and instead chuck your vote at UKIP (the fourth biggest national party)..... it's that, or the full implementation of an Orwellian nightmare scenario.
One further thing, if anyone is pinning their hopes on the Conservative party at the next (and probably last) UK general election, it is worth noting that one of the only honest members of the Conservative party has just been thrown out of the EPP (the EP version of the Conservative party), for daring to suggest that the cynical overriding of EP rules, was akin to the enablement act that took place in the Reichstag during Hitler's rise to power. This was where parliamentary dissent was abolished in order to make his stranglehold seem unanimous.
For an IT angle, see
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4116399771660063665&q=patents+%2B+eu
this film about software patents and how the EC operates in regard to democracy.
@nickj
I cannot remember voting for Barosso..... he emerged, like a slug from the dark recesses beneath a stone.
Do you think it will be any different in the case of Blair?
BTW: the only national political party in the UK that is unequivocal about withdrawal from the EU and the institution of Swiss-style democracy in the UK is the NON-RACIST, NON-SECTARIAN, UKIP..... Fortunately they are run by a bunch of amateurs that just have a sense of outrage about these things, they all come from non-political backgrounds (which makes them reasonably honest) and they all come from different viewpoints to unite around the main point. Amongst their prominent members are former card-carrying members of the Socialist Workers party, the original Liberal party (not LibDums), Labour and Conservative parties; none, apart from Roger Knapman (a former Conservative party whip) have ever been active career politicians in their former lives.
So, for anyone that is outraged at the total lack of democracy that is espoused by the so-called main political parties, I suggest that at the next general election, we deprive these parties of a vote and instead chuck your vote at UKIP (the fourth biggest national party)..... it's that, or the full implematation of an Orwellian nightmare scenario.
One further thing, if anyone is pinning their hopes on the Conservative party at the next (and probably last) UK general election, it is worth noting that one of the only honest members of the Conservative party has just been thrown out of the EPP (the EP version of the Conservative party), for daring to suggest that the cynical overriding of EP rules, was akin to the enanablement act that took place in the Reichstag during Hitler's rise to power. This was where parliamentary dissent was abolished in order to make his stranglehold seem unanimous.
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