Socialists have said no to Blair; without vigorous lobbying, so too has Brown

By Marjorie Smith

This post was also puiblished at Left Wing Polemics.

Gordon Brown’s snub to other Socialist leaders in the EU is the final nail in Tony Blair’s coffin. Gordon turned up at the traditional dinner with other Socialist party leaders from across the EU.
However, he gave a short presentation and then left immediately. Thus, in reality, depriving Blair of the only voice of support he could expect in the discussion.

Curiously, Gordon also shunned the family photo of the gathering of the Party of European Socialist leaders.

Not only did he not enthusiastically press the flesh for Blair but by snubbing other leaders he ensured that there would be a PES backlash against Blair. Going off to a press conferecne rather than staying for a dinner with his fellow leaders said it all in their eyes.

It was therefore seen by other socialist leaders that Brown does not want Blair to get the job; he couldn’t even be bothered to lobby vigorously amongst his own political allies in the EU. The only conclusion they could reach is that Blair is seen as being defenestrated by Brown. Brown later retorted that people should look “forwards, not backwards” and acknowledged that Blair would have to fend off rival bids.

Even more damming for Blair were the comments made by other members of the socialist group. Ramon Jaurequi, a socialist MEP from Spain is reported to have said, for instance:

“We have a common position concerning Mr Blair: we don’t consider him a member of the socialist family”.

EU socialist leaders also said they were aiming to secure the post of foreign policy high representative for the group, implicitly opposing the appointment of Tony Blair as President. “We socialists aspire to the post of high representative,” said Spanish Prime Minister Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero at a pre-summit meeting of European socialist leaders in Brussels. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, head of the Party of European Socialists, said Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Zapatero were asked to negotiate a deal with their conservative counterparts over the coming weeks.

But the post of ‘Foreign Minister of the EU’ is a potentially much more influental position than a titular President with an undefined role; the PES may have their eyes on the real prize and not one that could be a potential booby prize.

Blair is seen by many in the EU (and especially amongst the socialist group) as a charismatic leader – but one who is in reality a Christian Democrat and not a socialist.