Blair hints at deal over EU rebate

So much for never giving up on Britain's "rebate". Blair is already hinting that a deal can be done. Some will say that the price he is demanding is too much for the French to pay - but he has opened the door to a fake compromise in which our European "partners" can pretend to reform the CAP (again) in return for his agreeing to pay 15 times more to the EU budget than France.

Why would dear Tony betray the nation in this way, you may ask? Well he's a young man yet and due to retire as PM shortly. One way in which the EU has corrupted our politicians is by offering them jobs after their careers in national politics are over. Consider Neil Kinnock - a complete failure as a British politician, but a high earner in the EU. He began as an anti-EU left-winger, but moved steadily towards it as his career in Britain faltered and was handsomely rewarded when it ended. He and his wife (neither of them gifted) have earned a fortune in Brussels.

Blair's stance on Iraq damaged his EU job prospects severely. Only betraying his nation on a massive scale could now "redeem" him in the eyes of Chirac and others. Blair ought to fear the rope and the lamppost, but his experience of British voters suggests they are pathetically susceptible to his meretricious charms. Consider also that his chief consigliere, Peter Mandelson, has already gone on ahead to Brussels. Things do not look good.

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