A Europe united by division

Mr Flash just can’t stay away, can he?

Now, I’ve kept my silence on the Blair/EU President debate all week but I feel it’s safe to do so now. In fact, I’m almost feeling a little sorry for Boney Blair. Almost.

The arrogance of the man is staggering but the events of the past few days will have been a chastening experience for the man who would be king. I’ll bet he thought his old mucker, Gordon Brown, was going to be his biggest obstacle. Far from it.

In fact, Brown threw his weight behind Blair with surprising vigour. It’s just everybody else , and I mean everybody, who balked at the idea of President Blair.

Blair was always going to face stiff opposition in Europe. It goes without saying that he’s treated with some suspicion in Brussels (and Paris and Berlin) but he must have banked on his reputation and authority winning people over. The man’s certainly influential. He can quite literally pick up the phone to anyone in the world. He has the ears of people Brown and, perhaps, even Obama hold no sway with.

And if he’d approached this with even an iota of humility, he would found far more open arms across Europe.

Perhaps now Tony Blair will understand the depth of loathing there is towards him, even in his own country. Particularly in his own country.

Forget Iraq, forget the economy, forget Cherie. The reason people don’t want Tony Blair to be the brand new President of the EU is because he really, really wants to be.

‘Over my dead body’ was William Hague’s position and he found an awful lot of sympathy in 27 European capitals.

His supporters point out, quite correctly, that Blair doesn’t need the money. The £300,000 a year that’s been bandied around for this role pails into insignificance against the purported £15 million Blair has earned since leaving office.

His services are coveted and he receives £2 million a year from Deloitte alone. TBA has become a mega global corporation. Tony Blair the politician and turned Tony Blair the man into a serious cash cow.

So, he doesn’t need the money. Sure. What does he need then? Sadly, exactly what I am giving him here. Attention.

Make no mistake, he misses the limelight. He misses the column inches, the dinners with heads of state, the public handshakes. Remember how grimly he hung onto power? He wants it all back.

And most of all, he wants to be President. To be President of Europe. To finally stand shoulder to shoulder with an American president.

‘I’ll take the job as long as it’s big enough’, he’s allegedly said.

Could he not have foreseen how repulsive this would sound? It’s more than arrogance, it’s ignorance.

A word of warning. The Conservatives and European heads of state are correct to be suspicious of Blair. Goodness knows what kind of role he wanted but it wouldn’t have been good for anyone (except Blair, of course). He clearly wanted more power and influence than was reasonable.

But Mr Flash is not the only dangerous ego out there. The self-styled ‘kingmaker’ of Europe, Angela Merkel, should be watched equally closely. She doesn’t want Blair around because he would tread all over her toes.

Merkel has so much influence that what she says about the EU presidency pretty much goes. And she wants someone she can control. She could never control Blair.

If she has her way, and she will, it’ll be a straight shootout between Jean-Claude Juncker, president of that global powerhouse Luxembourg, and Jan-Peter Balkenende, the Dutch PM, famous only for a passing resemblance to Harry Potter.

Blair’s bling or Merkel’s stooge? It’s hardly a glittering future for the EU.

And Britain are well off out of it.

@2 years ago