EU Madness

It maybe an appropriate day for Cathy Ashton to give one of her few interviews to an Independent journalist, but it's even more pertinent, for anyone with an interest in these islands, to read this book by Olly Figg.  It's long - 353 pages excluding the index - but will make excellent reference material.

As for Mrs Ashton's declaration that she 'has nothing but praise for the Prime Minster and Foreign Secretary' shouldn't surprise anyone with the slightest understanding of the EU machinery.

"When the Coalition came in, it's worth remembering that people saw not just the Conservative government, but also the Liberal Democrat government, if you like," she said. "We saw the mixture. Nick is very well known in Brussels. The anticipation was that you would have a rich mixture of views coming together.

There will be no open debate regarding the UK's position in the EU. The Baroness is happy to make public: '...that relations with London have been very much better than people hoped.'

As it is a Monday morning I do hope it's noticed that I refrained from publishing a photo of the High President of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security.

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Cath's Empire Is Diminishing

Perseverance pays. I actually found a reasonably flattering photo of Baroness Ashton of Upholland, commonly know as inept Cath.

Let's not forget Catherine Ashton was the person responsible for steering the Lisbon Treaty through the House of Lords and her prize was the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.  Under the Lisbon Treaty her post is combined with the post of Vice-President of the European Commission.

With reference to my request for someone to be brave enough to knock her off her pedestal it seems there have been plenty volunteers.

Staff are leaving her new department - the European External Action Service - in droves.  In the past nine months almost 60 staff have left the EEAS amid reports of bad working conditions.   27 people have gone off to work for the EU Council, the member states' secretariat, 16 went to the EU and 6 left for the European Parliament while 7 have gone into the private sector.  Another 3 quit the cabinet of the EEAS.

It's not looking good for the Baroness, especially when a loyal spokesman has to more or less beg staff who are thinking of leaving, to wait until they move into their new splendid headquarters in March.  Sometimes a state of the art building just isn't a good enough working environment.

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Ineptitude Personified

It's not often I attack the personalities of politicians but Baroness Ashton is an exception along with the Honest Haircut: two people who, in the positions they hold, are completely out of their depth.

However this post is about Lady Ashton, Vice-President of the European Union, who is shown (above) attempting to inspire others to reach the dizzy heights of EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy.  Recently she was criticised for not ensuring the post of special EU envoy to the Middle east was filled after Marc Otte, who held the post since 2003, was not replaced when his term ended this week.  Her excuse was that she is considering whether or not the post is necessary and it wlll probably be several months before she makes her decision.

Shocking as this may seem to those who follow EU matters, she has a strategy which is to take the Middle East dossier into her own hands. Considering it's reported that she is close to the 'special envoy of the diplomatic Quartet in the Middle East' that's no surprise.  Tony Blair knew what to touch and what to avoid.

The Lady's latest spendthrift project will cost £8.5 million on polishing the image of her diplomatic service.  The money will be spent to:

"llustrate to the general public the increasing importance of the role of the EU as a global actor in peace building and crisis management".


Also a tidy sum will be allocated to supporting networking activities which means VIP visits, receptions and lengthy lunches and dinners.  Her spokesman said:

"This money is spent providing basic information on what the EEAS does. It is not for propaganda or to influence anybody. It is work which cannot be done in-house, for resource reasons. This is about providing information on a new EU service in 27 member states and across the globe. Looked at objectively, it provides good value for money." 

This woman's professional behaviour spawns such fury within me; so much so that I realise I have a loathing for someone I have never met. Prior to her arrival on the EU stage, had anyone said it was possible to loath a stranger I would have been the first to contradict them, but Catherine Ashton has proven me wrong.  She contributes nothing to the political world other than redefine the words greed and incompetence, yet she is still in office.  Surely there is someone in the whole of her European External Action Service willing to knock her off her pedestal.

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An Ineffectual Woman

After reading Delphius' post last night I realised I thought much the same, although when she was talking on Sky, my mind was more on cooking.  David Cameron did speak on television later but, as Del asks, where was our Foreign Secretary?

It this a slow and deliberate takeover of our foreign policy by the EU or is it a desperate bid by Cathy Ashton to build up her media profile?  Or both?

The woman is disliked by her peers.  She says she intends to visit Egypt as soon as possible, but they don't want her.  Her recent article in the Guardian was rightly mocked.

Until the Egyptians ask for our advice we should leave them alone and allow the people to develop their own style of democracy. I wish them well.  It will be a long, grinding road.

 

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