Tag Archives: Geoff Hoon

Brown: back him or sack him, but definitely do not dither

OK, here we go again. I’ve lost track of the number of times that there have been weak and weedy attempts to ditch Gordon Brown over the last 9 months or so. This time things are perhaps a little bit different – the Hoon-Hewitt plot is open and on the record, and they are at least both former cabinet ministers, although they claim this is no coup attempt against Gordon Brown – it could equally strengthen Brown were he to win such a poll of MPs. This then prompted a typical sort of tribalist response, typified by this tweet from Labour candidate for Manchester Withington Lucy Powell:

Look Lucy and anyone else trying to defend that line in public – it’s a load of crap. Labour is not united behind Brown. It’s not united behind anyone as an alternative to Brown either. People might not be behind Hoon and Hewitt (and especially not their timing), but there’s scarcely any Labour person I know that doesn’t have some sort of misgivings about Brown’s leadership. There’s no way to gloss over that. To do so is futile. But, conversely, what I write does not necessarily mean that Brown is not the best person to lead Labour into the election.

That leads me to the conclusion that I am not especially bothered about whether Brown is now ousted or not, and I say this as someone who joined Labour at the age of 16 and still carries the card. If Brown is ousted then a new leader will have too little time to change things much. If Brown stays then Labour will potter ahead towards an election with a wounded leader. Either option is rather sub-optimal.

All I want is some sort of quick decision, some clear line about what is going to happen. No rumbling news stories for days on end. This must be the very last effort to deal with the leadership question before the election. And after that – with a bit of luck – some sort of pragmatic, policy based approach that activists can use in the run up to the election can be developed. Remember the Tories will outspend Labour 3-1.

MPs in the corridors of Westminster: please think of the country, please avoid the crass soundbites about unity, and – above all – do not dither, whatever way the decision goes.

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Westminster implications for the Brussels gravy train?

Geoff Hoon - CC / Flickr

Geoff Hoon - CC / Flickr

As the drip-drip of expenses allegations continue to emerge in Westminster, is there any implication for Brussels, the EU of course not being well known for its standards of propriety among its politicians…?

The specific point relates to the European Commission – what impact will all of the goings-on in Westminster have on the UK’s choice of European Commissioner? The new Commission is due to take office 1st November 2009, and nominees will be sought in the weeks after the European Parliament election.

I first wrote about the UK’s choice for 2009 some 18 months ago, and my analysis then has not changed that much.

Geoff Hoon is the only one of the four names I mentioned who has become deeply embroiled in the expenses scandal – Brown would surely make the European Commission look ridiculous by sending such a person to Brussels now, and Tories in the EP would have a field day at the Parliament’s hearings for prospective Commissioners. The backlash against any Labour candidate succeeding Hoon in his Ashfield constituency would be considerable.

For the other candidates – Labour is probably more strongly inclined than ever before to avoid a by-election. So the chances of Hewitt or Clarke getting the Commissioner job must also have taken a hit (nothing about them yet from The Telegraph). Also with the Lib Dems trying to hammer home their critique of Gordon Brown the chances of a ‘big tent’ candidate have surely also declined.

So who might gain from all of this?

Current incumbent Baroness Ashton is rumoured to want to carry on in Brussels. Low profile when she started, Ashton has done little to boost her reputation in her 9 months in Brussels. She would be a safe but mundane choice, no by-election needed, but chances would be that the UK could be partially Orbaned – i.e. given a minor portfolio.

So now more than ever before Brown should go for Ken Livingstone as European Commissioner – he has the stature, would make an excellent Environment Commissioner, and no by-election would be needed.

[UPDATE - 21.5.2009]
Hewitt is yet to be implicated in any expense scandals. In the meantime there is some speculation about Brown’s reshuffle after the election, moving Mandelson to the FCO and Miliband to the Home Office, although Mandy is apparently denying this. Would such a demotion actually be the precursor to Miliband taking up the High Rep for CFSP position in Brussels? @ResEuropa on Twitter thinks it’s possible.

[UPDATE 2, 21.5.2009]
Seems that Charles Clarke has been making some rather large food claims – 2 Pizzas Clarke as Paul Waugh describes it. The waiters in La Brace on rue Franklin will be rubbing their hands with glee.

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Shockingly bad EU article in The Observer

Geoff Hoon - Creative Commons / Flickr

Geoff Hoon - Creative Commons / Flickr

I have a simple rule for my own blog: I don’t write about things I don’t know something about. So there’s no US politics here, and nothing about the credit crunch – others are much better qualified to write about those sorts of things.

Oh how I wish print journalists would follow the same approach!

There’s an article in The Observer today about the UK’s nominee to be a member of the next European Commission that is so dreadfully, achingly inaccurate that it makes me want to scream. It’s written by Toby Helm, ‘Whitehall Editor’ for The Observer. Maybe he better stick to his coverage of Whitehall…

So why is the article so bad?

Hoon, a former Europe minister and member of the European Parliament, is likely to be offered the four-year post later this year

No, wrong, Commissioners serve 5 year terms of office. Helm might have looked at the Wikipedia page for Peter Mandelson to discover he took office in the Commission in 2004, and the term lasts until 2009 – 5 years.

…taking over from Lady Ashton, who has been filling in since Peter Mandelson was recalled to the cabinet in September

Well, no. Baroness Ashton is not a stand-in – - her position has precisely the same legal status as Mandelson’s did. Plus Mandelson was not recalled by Gordon Brown – i.e. Brown could not force Mandy out of the Commission. Mandelson was invited to return to UK government and chose to resign from the Commission. Member States cannot – legally – recall Commissioners. If in doubt have a look at Article 213 TEC.

Senior figures in government say Hoon’s nomination would be expedient because of delays to the timetable of nominating commissioners – which would normally start in late summer – caused by Ireland’s second referendum on the Lisbon treaty last autumn. This means the next batch of European commissioners are unlikely to take up their posts until the end of this year or the beginning of next.

“This would mean we would be close enough to a general election for us not to have to call a byelection in his seat [Ashfield],” said an insider. “We do not want to have a byelection for obvious reasons.”

This is horribly wide of the mark. The conclusions of the European Council held last month state: “the Irish Government is committed to seeking ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon by the end of the term of the current Commission“, so that’s by 31st October 2009, the formal end of the term of the current Commission. No delays, no messing around. OK, Ireland might vote No again, but that’s another question entirely.

Then think about it further… Is Ireland going to hold the referendum in the winter months, November or December? Highly unlikely. Is the UK going to hold a general election within 3 months (or so) of 31st October 2009? Almost impossible. Also Article 214 TEC states that the Commission term shall be 5 years, no provision for delays. Plus Hoon has a majority of more than 10000 in his constituency – Ashfield. If Labour can hold Glenrothes, when why not Ashfield?

How, how, how can a major UK newspaper get away with publishing something that is so completely and utterly rubbish? No wonder the UK population is bewildered by the EU when paid journalists cannot even be bothered to do a bit of basic research about what the rules are.

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