I have followed Cathy Ashton’s career closely for many years now. She is a delightful, able and highly intelligent woman who has held a range of positions from minister in the education department to the chair of a health authority. She is highly knowledgeable on education, health and social affairs.
It was quite extraordinary that she got the job as Trade Commissioner taking over from Mandelson. She knew nothing about world trade.
But she went down very well, getting along extremely well with European Commission President Barroso and charming her officials with her ‘call me Cathy’ down to earth style.
Now I know that it is important for the smaller EU member states (by far the majority of the 27 members of the EU) not to be overshadowed by towering international figures and that the last thing many of the big countries want is to be overshadowed by a high profile High Representative for Foreign Affairs, but I was really taken aback by their choice of Cathy Ashton and errr, so was she. She admitted as much in the press conference last night.
It shows what being popular, down to earth, practical, able and charming can do for you in Brussels. There were a number of other boxes to be ticked. Being of the left and being a woman helped as well.
An extraordinary achievement from someone who has so little experience in foreign affairs.
And this is a job that is arguably more powerful than the President of the Council, the job that has been given to the obscure but able haiku author from Belgium.
Herman Van Rompuy has very few people in his staff and will be told what to do by the EU’s 27 member states.
Cathy Ashton, by contrast, has an army of European Commission officials and a diplomatic service of 6,000 around the world to support her in her work. She is not only a representative of the 27 member states, she is a senior member of the European Commission as well.
The French and Germans have agreed to this so that the British are now bought off and because they like Cathy Ashton but don’t think she will be a threat. The British Commissioner will deal with foreign affairs, not with a portfolio that directly affects the domestic policy of the EU.
What we will see now is the French and Germans taking their share of the spoils. This will mean that the French will get a senior economic portfolio in the new European Commission – possibly trade (the one vacated by Ashton), or the internal market – and the Germans will want a senior high profile Commission position and also the Presidency of the European Central Bank. It was modeled on the Bundesbank after all…
In 2003, an anonymous blog was started called Diary of a London Call Girl which recounted a young woman’s experiences of working as...a London Call Girl. It became widely read because it was:
a. Explicit
b. Well-written
c. Offered a glamorous view of prostitution
d. Was written by a mystery author that claimed to be a girl-next door type.
And here’s why this is of interest to the British science community: Belle de Jour is Dr Brooke Magnanti, a respected specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. Six years ago she became a £300 an hour escort to fund the final stages of her PhD thesis.
Now I have no idea what developmental neurotoxicology is but I do know a PR hook when I see one. And this is the perfect opportunity for the science community to squeeze some R&D money out of the government. I’m thinking: ‘Students forced to sell bodies to buy books’, I’m thinking: ‘Woefully underfunded science industry turns to sex industry to fund cure for cancer’ I’m thinking: Belle de Jour in a lab coat calling for bigger R&D grants for developmental neurotoxicology.
With a general election only about six months away and with a high likelihood of a change of Government, please see below our guide to Cameron’s Conservatives.
The document analyses ones to watch in the Conservative ranks among MPs, PPCs, advisers, officials and think tanks and reviews current Conservative policy. Predictions are always risky. It will be interesting to see how many of the names we highlighted will be prominent in the next Parliament.
If you have any thoughts or queries arising from our document, or would like a hard copy, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing info@theopen-road.com
Click here to download the full document in PDF format or head directly to one of the following sections within the guide:
