Fury as Mandelson is made scapegoat for Irish 'no' vote
The EU's attempt to present a united front over Ireland's rejection of its treaty of Lisbon was scuppered by an explosive row between Nicolas Sarkozy and the EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson. The French President declared that Mr Mandelson was partly responsible for the "no" vote in last week's Irish referendum because he had upset Irish farmers by supporting cuts in agricultural production during talks on a new world trade deal. Asked if the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, was to blame for the ensuing crisis over the treaty, M. Sarkozy said: "Ireland's debate focused on abortion, euthanasia, taxation, the WTO , agriculture. You can't blame that on Mr Barroso. Choose someone else. Mandelson, for example." He added: "One child dies every 30 seconds because they are hungry, and we should go and negotiate within the WTO framework a 20 per cent cut in European agricultural production? Honestly, there is one person who is of that opinion – that's Mr Mandelson. "If we want to deepen the Irish crisis, all we have to do is add to it by continuing on a totally unbalanced agreement at the WTO. That is really counterproductive." snip Mr Mandelson hit back in a round of interviews, insisting that he was merely carrying out the policy of EU leaders, including the French President, in the long-stalled trade talks. "My shoulders are broad enough and my skin thick enough to take this," he said. "France has a particular national position which I have to take into account but I cannot be governed by." Mr Mandelson said M. Sarkozy had "tactfully and diplomatically" chosen to blame him rather than Mr Barroso. He had been reassured that M. Sarkozy, "has nothing against me personally". Gordon Brown, who has had a difficult relationship with Mr Mandelson since he backed Tony Blair rather than him for the Labour leadership in 1994, sprang to the defence of Britain's EU commissioner. "We need this trade deal and he is pushing for it," he said. "We support him in the excellent work that he is doing." snip http://tinyurl.com/4dshth Excellent! The basdids are turning on each other.