When Blair has been right few have noticed
The British media have had quite a field day in their new found sport of Blair-bating. In terms of Blair's mind set and make up there are things he can not change, not because he is right but rather because he is neither flexible nor responsive enough to other people's opinions. This is more a personal problem as opposed to some poltiical strategy.
On the other hand, there have been areas where Tony Blair has pushed in entirely the right direction but has been almost completely ignored by the British press and the electorate.
At the end of October in 2002 at a European Council meeting there was, what some people called, a stand up row between Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac which was sparked off by Tony Blair criticising the EU agricultural policies and pointing out the negative consequences for third world countries. The media went into full throttle somewhat relishing this little bit of scandal, a row at an EU Council meeting!
However, the essential point is that Tony Blair was completely right in what he said and Chirac's response was wrong and shabby. Several who attended the Council meeting have however commented that Chirac was in a bit of a mood that day anyway. But non the-less, the media have a duty to focus a little deeper and analyse what the row was about.
The EU agricultural policy is a triumph for anti-democratic forces. Less than 2% of the EU business owners command over 42% of the EU budget. If one adds in the so-called Structural Funds, this figure rises to 78% of the budget since a large proportion of structural funds also go to rural and agricultural sector development, areas over which farmer lobbies have an inordinate say. For several rural areas the policy is a means of income as opposed to something which is encouraging improved efficiency. A large segment of the rural populations, as a result of a failure in national economic policies, are not viable and as a result the agricultural and structural policies amount to a rural dole system. Staff at the European Commission have admitted that it is better to keep these people in the countryside as opposed to having them flooding into the urban regions and creating inner city problems. There is no doubt that this system needs to be done away with and alternative positive productivity enhancing polcies drawn up to create employment options.
As long as this system continues, this monstrous European rural dole system will continue to raise food and fibre prices within the EU and dump excesses onto the world market harming the more efficient producers in third world countries.
George Brown has been making a lot of noise concerning the need to invest more money in the third world to help raise access to education and health provisions, for example. However, George Brown and Tony Blair need to discuss this issue. There is no point wasting (yes wasting) public funds on direct third world initiatives when the EU machine is proactively eroding the very foundations of the economies concerned. A better alternative would be to transfer a high proportion of the agricultural budget to aid and thereby double the impact. But people like Chirac would object. For many keeping the EU unemployed in rural areas, eroding third world economies and enjoying a comfortable life style in fortress Europe is what life and politics is about. On this one, Blair is right but do people care?
