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Kinnock: ‘Flamboyant’ Blair not the president we wanted
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor20 Nov 2009
European leaders were right to reject Tony Blair's “flamboyance” in favour of a little-known Belgian for the post of EU president, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said today.
In a barbed attack on Mr Blair's high-profile style, Lord Kinnock said the EU had made the right choice by backing Herman Van Rompuy for the top job and Britain's Cathy Ashton for foreign affairs chief.
Mr Blair was today unperturbed by his failure to clinch the presidency, a move sealed when Gordon Brown switched his support to ensure that Baroness Ashton won.
The former premier was today concentrating on his role as Middle East peace envoy, phoning foreign leaders from his office in Mayfair before another trip to the region. It had been claimed yesterday that he may seek a UN or World Bank post, but allies said that he would not seek a big new role on the world stage.
The former premier will stick to his globetrotting public roles and lucrative speaking tours and consultancies, rather than seek work with the UN or World Bank. Mr Blair runs a sports charity and a separate faith foundation and is leading a drive to tackle climate change.
Friends said that Mr Blair was “unsurprised” by the EU's decision to downgrade the president's post he coveted. They said that the decision was “hardly a surprise, as the direction of travel has been clear for some time”.
As EU leaders fended off charges that they had ended up with “political pygmies” in their two most prominent posts, Lord Kinnock stressed that it was a victory for Britain that there would not be a powerful, high profile personality as president.
“They've made good choices because what they've gone for with the Belgian Prime Minister Rompuy and with Cathy Ashton is high quality, functional effectiveness, not flamboyance — and I think that's reassuring for some people,” he told BBC Radio 4's Today. “The real authority of that figure will derive from the consensus achieved and the common position taken by the European Union. That is in the nature of the job.”
Baroness Ashton said she felt “humbled” to get the foreign affairs post and that she was determined “to show that I am the best person for the job”.
The White House welcomed the two appointments, claiming they would make the EU “stronger” and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Lady Ashton as her “equivalent”. The Tories insisted it would have been better to have clinched one of the top economic posts in Brussels, but David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, backed her appointment.
He said: “We are pleased that a Briton will occupy this post and urge Baroness Ashton to use her new position to help businesses across Britain and Europe.”
President of the European Council
Tenure is for two-and-a-half years. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the president is not granted any formal power but he will “chair and drive forward the work of the European Council” of 27 EU leaders. Salary is expected to be €270,000, with a chauffeured car, housing allowance and 20 staff. Post has been downgraded into a “chairman” role rather than a chief executive and it does not require endorsement by European Parliament.
Foreign affairs chief
Baroness Ashton has been appointed for five years. As a vice-president of the European Commission, she will have to be endorsed by the European Parliament. She will be in charge of co-ordinating common EU policy on issues such as Iran's nuclear programme. Salary €295,000. She will run the European External Action Service — with 7,000 staff.
Reader views (22)
is Val Daniels related to the Editor his views always get published although the majority think he is totally out of touch, as indeed he would be, because he does not live here.
He even thinks Blair and Brown were good Prime ministers. Could one be more out of touch than that. One took us to an unnecessary war where 100000 died, the other made so many mistakes it would take pages to catalogue them and Im not counting selling our gold reserves for a quarter of what they are worth today. He was new to the job then and had not set about dismantling our pensions and employment.
- Alan Green, England. The forgotten country., 20/11/2009 15:55
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Blair's non-election clears the path for him to be prosecuted about lying to Parliament and the British people and forcing upon us an illegal war.
- Rs, Winchester, England, 20/11/2009 15:43
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#Malcolm
You are wrong again, Malcolm. When Tony Blair was advised of the changed job description on Wednesday, he told Gordon Brown he wasn't interested in the job. In fact there were around 12 heads of state supporting him on Wednesday, according to Paul Waugh of the ES, who was actually there. The accepted wisdom is that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy had decided they wanted a 'chairman', not a big-hitting president. What it actually shows is that, like Cameron, their own personal insecurities came to the fore and they knew there was no way they could compete with him; he would have been a giant among pygmies. That's why Cameron still insists on describing himself as 'the heir to Blair', he hopes some of the charisma will rub off on him - fat chance. I'm a great believer in he who laughs last laughs loudest. Tony Blair never disappoints; he'll move on to bigger and better things. You all insist everyone hates Gordon Brown, but not enough to prevent them offering him the job of President. The government must be doing something right, Gordon for President, David Milliband for the Foreign Minister post - I didn't see any Conservative names mooted - I wonder why. Perhaps everyone realises they are not up to it. Of course, they could have offered up Carol Vorderman, couldn't they?
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 20/11/2009 14:04
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Ashton has never been elected to any political position. So much for the new democratic Europe!!
- William, London, 20/11/2009 13:40
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An unelected nobody of political weight = President.
An unelected Labour stooge = Foreign bod.
UKIP it is then. We desperately need to get the hell out of their and save ourselves billions in the process.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 20/11/2009 13:18
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So, there is a God after all. Amongst other things, Bliar has said he is committed to getting Turkey into the EU, Israel has no better friend than him, and he works closely to America`s instructions. He would have been an utter disaster.
- Monty, Tottenham, Province of London, 20/11/2009 13:14
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Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain
"Tony Blair was right to remove himself from the fray"
Guess that just proves how far removed from reality you really are Val. Your 'beloved Tony' DIDN'T "remove himself" from the scene. He was totally and utterly REJECTED by all the other EU leaders. Even your "2nd most beloved Gordon" eventually woke up and realised it was a waste of time. That's Gordon's problem, always too little, too late!!
- Malcolm, London, 20/11/2009 13:03
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The correlation between Euro-federalists and wishing to keep Turkey out of the EU is pretty high; that was precisely the reason why Blair, for all his faults, WANTED the Turks in....
- Bringintheturkstostopthiseumonser, London, 20/11/2009 12:22
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I think it will prove to be a second rate job, the Foreign Minister will be seen to have more clout. Tony Blair was right to remove himself from the fray. He deserves much better. His weekly resume, as described by Paul, shows the quality of the work he is engaged in. None of these conferences offer payment, apart from travel expenses. Who else would get an invitation restricted to only 4 people, from His Holiness the Pope to a conference at the Vatican? I can't think of anybody else of note who is in attendance. But I daresay the non-Catholics amongst you will find something unedifying to say about that as well.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 20/11/2009 12:17
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This is a good result for all the blair haters,of which there are millions!,perhaps now baroness Ashton can afford to get her teeth fixed.
- Unlucky Lucan, Wormwood scrubs England., 20/11/2009 11:28
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The theme running through all of Brown's recent actions is to hand the Conservatives a poisoned chalice in the event they win the next election. If Brown can't encumber Cameron with a person they find very distasteful, such as Blair, he then encumbers them with incompetents, such as Ashton. One can go as far as to point the finger at the enormous debt being accumulated by the UK and have every reason to believe Brown is deliberately making it more difficult for the Conservatives to right the UK ship.
- Bingham Macnamara, lymington, hampshire, 20/11/2009 10:31
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So our new country has its first Prime Minister and High Representative (Foreign Minister)! Typical that the 500 million plebs in the 27 new provinces were given no say in the matter. Of course, that's the way it will be in the new federal system -- decrees from the elite, without any say from those below. Most in the U.K. still don't realize that Gordo and Cleggy (with Dave not making much noise) ratified something called the Lisbon Treaty (E.U. Constitution), which for all intents and purposes (once the other 26 'Member States' also ratified) changed the U.K. from country to province. You can't have countries within a country. For those who would like to see the U.K. return to country status, there's always the ballot box next summer. Vote Labour or Conservative for the provincial status quo, or vote U.K.I.P. for return of the U.K. as a country (where the British can't be outvoted from offshore on the running of their daily lives).
- Phil Jones, London UK, 20/11/2009 10:28
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I am so glad Blair never made it.now lets see the results of the WMD enquiry,I don't know how he had the gall to turn up at the remembrance ceremony.
- Davey_Bouy, Chertsey, 20/11/2009 10:23
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Brian G - no, in France the anti-Turkish ticket is a big deal: they brought in a law specifically making it illegal to deny the Armenian holocaust so that Turkey couldn't join without admitting it.
- Roz, France, 20/11/2009 10:19
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Oh I see. When us plebs get our £1 flights thats bad and we cause global snoring er warming and we should be taxed into the floor for it. But when the glitterati or in Bliars case the 'great deceiver and the widemouthed frog' fly around. Well thats just 'globetrotting' and we should all go 'aaaah it's luvly 'innit guv' and send them more cash. No global warming from the Bliars then.
See thats a double standard that I have huge problems with.
- Ethan, UK - that bankrupt drizzly place off the EU coast., 20/11/2009 10:17
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Poor old Gordon doesn`t get it. Germany and France in particular have gone for non entities so they are not overshadowed on the world stage. These two totally unelected individuals and in the case of Baroness Ashton doubly unelected will be total non players. The main world powers won`t be interested in either person. They will still be wanting to do business with individual leaders of the many European countries. I must admit I did not know she was our Trade Commissioner until yesterday. Just goes to show what a dynamic person she is. It has all turned out to be a damp squib really now that TB Esq has been shown the door and with Millipeed having fallen by the way side. It will be interesting to see who gets the Trade Commission job.
- Brian G, Norfolk Gorleston, 20/11/2009 10:02
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Is the Blair creature disappointed? I sincerely hope so.
- David, Fleet Hampshire, 20/11/2009 09:58
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Americans will love this. A couple of "political pygmies" and a Foreign Minister who will confirm their view that the Europeans have a problem with dentists.
- Jon, london, 20/11/2009 09:25
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He only got that out of respect for Britain's Armed Forces . . .
Can we all hope that Tony Blair will now go back to making millions on the lecture circuit telling everyone how he went on the hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction that didn't exist . . . ?
- Roz, France, 20/11/2009 09:25
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Strange, I don't remember voting for either of these two. Come to think of it I have never even heard of them.
Perhaps 500m other people in Europe can throw some light on this?
My vote goes to any party who promises to pull out of Europe immediately.
- Jimbob, Kensington, 20/11/2009 09:08
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Oh I'd rather have a Belgian than a Bliar, Oh I'd rather have a Belgian than a Bliar !!! Still, nice to have fans eh Tony ?
- Andy Woodhead, London, ENGLAND, 20/11/2009 08:45
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Typical
They've gone for looks again!!!
- Peter, Moscow RF, 20/11/2009 08:16
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