A public attack on Baroness Ashton of Upholland that first appeared in the French press and was partly fuelled by her decision not to travel to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake has sharpened in recent weeks. Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is among those believed to have joined the growing ranks of European officials to take aim at the newcomer.Brussels officials claim this is 'severely undermining her credibility'.
Did she ever have any..?
The initial goodwill towards the 53-year-old appears to be ebbing amid her continuing lack of confidence during foreign policy briefings and ministerial meetings, when she is regularly eclipsed by her more seasoned colleagues. Spain's Mr Moratinos – whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency – has reportedly been venting his frustration during visits to Brussels when he has compared her negatively to Javier Solana, the political veteran who held the post of High Representative for a decade. Senior officials within her team complain that she "sticks to generalities".Well, what's a modern gal to do when the big, rough boys start tweaking her pigtails and putting frogs on her chair?
Simples!
Ashton's aides say she is still relatively sanguine, but has been angered over what she perceives as "latent sexism" from some of her European peers.Oh, Hattie will be so proud...
Yep, it's all sexism, nothing to do with her politics or the fact that she's done...need I go on?
ReplyDeleteI'm all for the 'old boys network' as I'm an old boy myself...well not that old! (I wonder if theres an equivalent old girls network?)
Is she going to thcweam and thcweam and thcweam until she's thick?
ReplyDeletePerhaps they are about to find out how difficult it actually is to get rid of an EU commissioner?
ReplyDeleteThe biter bit! The hawk under the talons!
Oh, this might be fun.
WY, I hope it will be fun; it's already a farce.
ReplyDeleteCredible, credibility, Baroness Ashton, not something I'd ever expect to find in a newspaper article either.
ReplyDeleteBrussels officials must at least pretend that she had credibility - because they put her there.
ReplyDeleteThey probably knew she'd be useless and that they'd have to unseat her. Which means, of course, that the UK would be without a representative in a major post.
We have the deranged manoevrings of McDoom and his fellow howlers to thank for that.
"I wonder if theres an equivalent old girls network?"
ReplyDeleteCheck out the HR department of any large organisation to find one!
"Oh, this might be fun."
Indeed... ;)
"Brussels officials must at least pretend that she had credibility - because they put her there."
*gets more popcorn*