Mandy's in town
Monday, October 23, 2006
It was a room full of slick grey manes and dark pinstripte suits.Cardiff's business leaders turned out en masse to hear Peter Mandelson, European Trade Commissioner, speak tonight in the bay. Despite not strictly being a business bigwig, I snuck in too...
On the challenges facing Britain:
'We should be modernizing our public services - tailoring them to our individual needs. And we should be doing so in an affordable way in partnership with the private sector.'
That's definitely an ex-communist speaking then.
On international development:
'The EU accounts for over half of development spending around the world. We make the world more stable as we seek to redress the balance in the global economy to support those who currently do not have a stake in it.'
Wonderful. But why do we still give aid at the same time as we collect our debts?
Mandelson consistently speaks about the 'challenges of globalisation' in terms of what's best for Britain. Code for 'let's preserve the status quo.'
Nobody in the upper echelons of government seriously believes that redressing the global economy would be in Britain's economic interest.
On the Liberal Democrats:
'Quivery quivery, wibbly wobbly.'
On Mandelson:
'Why do the Chinese negotiate with me? Not because I represent the 60 million people of the UK, but because I represent the 500 million people of Europe.'
That's some mandate. Shame we didn't vote for him.
Labels: EU, Peter Mandelson
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:38 pm,
