Tuesday
(0)I swear I was not going to bash the Tories this week!
I was actually trawling the French news and looked forward to writing about some appalling corruption scandal. Well this [link in French] is close enough.
It seems that the European People's Party (to which the British Conservatives belong) has done a deal with the European Socialist Party (to which the British Labour Party belongs) to ensure the election of a Socialist leader of the European Parliament: Josep Borrell Fontelles. In doing so they voted against the Polish former dissident Bronislav Geremek, who if this Communist denunciation is anything to go by, was obviously the right candidate to back.
So all the protestations that the Conservatives would defend British interests are a load of cobblers. These people are an insult to invertebrates.
It gets better, the French report says that the new President of the European Parliament (elected with the support of the European People's Party) is a man who comes from the left-wing of the Spanish Socialist Party and who had to quit Spanish politics because of a series of unfortunate misunderstandings over large sums of stolen taxpayers' money. I seem to recall that this was when the Governor of the Bank of Spain was filmed carrying suitcases of freshly printed bank notes to the Spanish Socialist Party Headquarters. The story was extensively covered at the time in El Mundo, the Spanish conservative daily newspaper. I forget if our new European Parliament President was personally involved (though the discreet shuffling of news reports suggests he may have been), but he certainly had to quit over that affair.
So the British Conservatives are fighting our corner within the European People's Party? Nice one Michael Howard, I know exactly where we stand on the Conservative Party's policy on Europe.
Support hard-core Socialists! Give fraudsters a second chance! Support even more European regulations and taxes! Vote Conservative!
The more I watch the pre-election festivities on both sides of the Atlantic the more I am struck by the parallels between candidates. Bush and Blair seem much alike; and I am beginning to compare Howard and Kerry.
Now don't that send a chill up your spine.
Posted by Dale Amon at July 20, 2004 05:06 PM
Except Kerry has a chance of victory.
If Howard couldn't nail Blair during July 2004, he never will.
If Howard carries on at this rate the Conservatives will end up with a similar vote share to the Lib Dems and UKIP, while Blair wins a third term with a majority of around 100 in The Commons.
Posted by Swingometer at July 20, 2004 10:13 PM
Isn't that one of the big allures of the EU - it provides a posh job for politicians who failed in their countries and need a second career ? Only the UN beats the EU in this respect.
Posted by Jacob at July 20, 2004 10:32 PM
Private Eye, issue 1110 page 7, "Brussels Sprouts" has more on the Tories and EPP. Apparently, EPP has been in negotiations to join forces with, "Italian post-Fascist Allianca National", a group led by Gianfranco Fini that has, "extreme views on a range of subjects" and that Jonathan Evans, "declared categorically that he would 'never' allow the Tories to be part of".
I'm not *quite* sure what all that means, but it sounds like even more embarrasment for the Tories.
Posted by Rob Fisher at July 21, 2004 01:41 AM
The Tories in the European "Parliament" may be about to desert the European Peoples Party and join a new group which is less federalist, more Atlanticist and free-market minded:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/18/weu118.xml
The ten new EU members have returned enough Eurosceptics to make such a bloc formidable for the first time.
Posted by Albion4Ever at July 21, 2004 10:57 AM
yes - I'd read that they'd already left the epp so this looks like a bit of a suspect posting.
Posted by Giles at July 21, 2004 05:29 PM
What has happened is that a number of the Conservative MEP's have been in open revolt over Michael Howard's insistence that they join the EPP.
The MEP's have been polling local Conservative Association Chairman to ask their views on whether they should leave the EPP or work within it tio reform it. The response has been a great big raspberry to the EPP. Following this there has been a split into the EPP and ED, with both nominally centre-right groups agreeing to work together over some issues but with a very distinctive anti-Constitution line taken by the ED.
Posted by John Harrison at July 21, 2004 09:53 PM
Is Michael Howard still clinging to the EPP? What a nebbish that man is turning out to be.
Posted by Albion4Ever at July 22, 2004 10:53 AM
