Is this really a good look?

This photo could well end up a hostage to fortune.

The photos were sent out this morning from the email of Cathy Ashton, the EU Foriegn Minister. I wonder who those chaps are holding automatic weapons and the EU flag. Which faction do they support, how many prisoners have they killed and so on?

The EU, like everybody else has no idea how things are going to work out, or who will become the new leadership in Tripoli.

Ouch - parsing the Conclusions makes uneasy reading for Ashton

The Conclusions of the European Council this week are out. Amusingly they are always released to journalists a few days before the meeting takes place, making the word conclusions rather apposite, but I digress. If these were written early as they normally are they will have been written before the UN debacle of Monday night. In that case what is written in them is even more coruscating.

It will in future regularly discuss external relations in order to set strategic orientations in advance of key events, in particular with a view to defining key messages on our objectives and on the means to achieve them. This requires clear strategic guidance by the European Council on the basis of an effective preparation by the High Representative and by the Council.

These documents are normally the preserve of EU Kremlinologists, but the message in this is loud and clear. Baroness Ashton has been an utter failure as High Representative, and the Council is making it pretty obvious that they feel that she has not been either able to "set strategic guidance" or indeed had any "effective preparation".

Ouch

Should UKIP MEPs do as they are told in Strasbourg?

Wel that is the question being raised by Alexi Rossi on the Sky news blog. He is reffering of course to the Farage, Dartmouth et al. affairs,

The latest incident concerned MEP William, Earl of Dartmouth during a debate on EU Arctic policy yesterday. He released a great deal of hot air when he questioned whether states in Southern Europe needed and arctic policy. No problem there except for the fact he tried to prove his point by taking dig at Baroness Ashton - the EU's new and first High Representative of Foreign Affairs - calling her 'unqualified'.
"But an EU Arctic policy is perhaps not so bizarre as the appointment of the supremely unqualified Baroness Ashton, the Sarah Palin of the ex-student left." - he blasted
The Earl's comments did not go down well with the chair of the debate, Liberal MEP Diana Wallis - she cut his mike and had him removed from the chamber by an usher. Naughty boy.
His brush with authority comes after UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, was fined by the
parliament for insulting the new EU President, Herman Van Rompuy and refusing to apologise. Mr Farage said Van Rompuy had the 'charisma of a damp rag' and the
appearance of a 'low grade bank clerk'.
Whilst incidents like this make for lively reading I'm not sure such personal attacks enhance the image of the EU as a body politic. What do you think?

So go then, go and tell him...

So now she is formally a traitor

The Rt Hon Baroness Ashton, for it is she yesterday formally announced her acceptance of he rules governing her appointment to the European Commission.

SOLEMN UNDERTAKING BEFORE THE COURT OF JUSTICE BY A NEW MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Formal sitting of 2 February 2009

Following the resignation of Mr Peter Mandelson from his duties as a member of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, by decision of 7 October 2008, acting in accordance with the Treaties, has decided to replace him for the remainder of his term of office. Baroness Catherine Ashton has been appointed a member of the European Commission for the period from 6 October 2008 to 31 October 2009.

The Court of Justice of the European Communities held a formal sitting at 12.30pm today at which Baroness Catherine Ashton gave her solemn undertaking in
accordance with the Treaties.

Of course what this solemn undertaking entails is this,

The Treaty articles on the Commission make special reference to the complete independence enjoyed by the Members of the Commission, who are required to
discharge their duties in the general interest of the Community. In the performance of their duties they must neither seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body.

The problem is of course is she has previously sworn her oath of allegiance to one HRH Queen Elizabeth the Second,

You will to your uttermost bear Faith and Allegiance to the Queen’s Majesty; and will assist and defend all civil and temporal Jurisdictions, Pre-eminences, and Authorities, granted to Her Majesty and annexed to the Crown by Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, against all Foreign Princes, Persons, Prelates, States, or Potentates.

So Cathy, can you serve two masters? Or should we take it as read that you are inconstant and do not understand either the seriousness of your Privy Council Oath or that which you so traitorously swore yesterday.

No doubt to you, as with much of your ilk a word of honour is merely that, a word. Worthless, fluid in time and without power. Power you so gratefully hoard to use against your fellow subjects. But words have within them great power, oaths such as these are near mystical for they contain within them them the very spirit of a nation.

Being ignorant of history you foist your ignorance upon us all.

But as the first oath you swore states,

So Help You God

A second term for Cathy

Tonight was the UKRep (the UK representative office to Europe, otherwise the British Embassy to the EU) Christmas party. They apologised for the lack of mince pies.

But what was interesting was the speech by Baroness Ashton, the British Commissioner replacement for Peter Mandelson.

"For those of you retireing... I miss you already. For those of you standing again. I hope to be working with you for this year, and many years in the future".

She really does want to keep her job past the end of this Commission.

Cathy is talking to Richard Ashworth- Tory MEP for the South East)