The King is dead...long live Jose Manuel
There'll be hearty laughter in the Barroso household today and a few raised eyebrows in tomorrow's papers after the verdict of Today programme listeners that José Manuel Barroso runs Britain.
Lest you forgot or never knew, Senor Barroso is the President of the European Commission. He beat Messrs Blair, Brown, Murdoch and even the boys behind Google to the title.
The electorate is, of course, never wrong. 'Today' listeners may be using this poll to send the message that Europe does more than they would like.
Is that, though, the result of a master plan by the dastardly Senor Barroso? He would point out that given that he does not even get to choose the members of his own Commission - a body smaller than some county councils which can only propose laws and not actually pass them - this is an implausible idea.
So can you dismiss the verdict of Today programme listeners? Not that fast. The problem of Europe is that voters - not just on Today but in electorates across the continent - cannot easily identify a name to blame for political developments they dislike.
Take just one row on the Euro map at the moment. Euro-sceptics are warning that the Commission could soon have criminal powers - powers they believe are a defining characteristic of the government of a nation state and, therefore, should never be given to the EU. This follows a European Court of Justice ruling that "Community legislature may take measures relating to the criminal law of Member States when that is necessary for the achievement of an important Community objective".
The ruling was about EU environmental protection regulations - such as those controlling the cleanliness of beaches. If you're concerned by this, who should you blame? The Court, the Commission, the governments who agreed to the rules of the EU and would have to agree to any extension of EU law? What about Jose Manuel Barroso? Why him? You can't even vote for him - except, that is, in the Today programme poll.
P.S.
Happy New Year, by the way and forgive my long Christmas break. I needed it after a frantic 2005 and to prepare for a 2006 which, if anything, could be even more dramatic.
I'm 
Comments
When the next European elections come round, each party should put up a candidate for president of the Commission. That way we can vote for the successor to Mr Barosso. The terms of office of Commission and Parliament coincide to make this possible.
Nick, Happy new year.
In 1971 we signed to the Treaty of Rome and the EEC which has now, in the fullness of time become something very sinister, the EU. The EU wants to control all our lives yet for the last 11yrs their accounts have been un-auditable! Siding with UKIP i and millions of others want out, we want just to be Great Britain again with free trade agreements. Just think of the cash we will save in VAT?
RBJ
The EU does acccount for 50% of our legislation, Commission proposed Directives therefore do have a massive impact on our lives. Im sure most people are completely unaware of the majority of these laws, for instance the recent data retention debate that was largely ignored by the main stream media or the REACH palava. The best bloody nose for the Commission were the NO votes in France and Holland, demonstrating that countries who traditionally are stlawart supporters of the EU are having real problems pushing for further integration/harmonisation.
It is invalid for the 91Èȱ¬ to pick holes in the case for Barroso running Britain, when it was the Today panel that chose him personally rather than 'The EU' as a candidate in the poll. People voted for him as the personification of the EU project, and that project undeniably runs Britain.
On that note, it doesn't matter one bit that the Commission is "Smaller than some county councils"- as Nick must know, it is the power vested in the office, not the number of people in the office, that is important.
The Commission initiates 80% of the laws in Britain; despite being a small body it wields immense and growing power. Was Stalin ever dismissed as not having power simply because he was a lone individual?
Mark Wallace
Campaign Manager
The Freedom Association
www.tfa.net
Nick Robinson rather poo poo'd the result in his interview. I voted for Barroso - not because I think he has the power in his own hands, but as a surrogate for the EU, whose tentacles extend ever further into our lives. 50% of our legislation affecting business originates from the EU, most of it goes through Parliament on the nod, and it probably costs us 2% of our GDP, while the CAP is estimated to cost a family of four £1,000 a year.
I don't find that as amusing as Mr Robinson does.
Maybe people struggle to concretely identify a political figure that they can blame because closer scrutiny of the issues reveal that responsibility lies somewhat closer to home than comfortable. Politicians have, unfortunately, played a game of overstating their capacity to effect change, in order to win over the electorate. Now, to their chagrin, the bleating masses consider politicians responsible for everything from the behaviour of their next-door-neighbours, to the rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In many cases people have to realise that the answer to social issues ultimately rests with the behaviour of every individual within that society.
At the same time, the government (current and past) has sabotaged its own efforts to control many important issues in our lives by privatising public-owned services, rendering it more difficult to control quality of service and continuity of supply, as well as losing control of the cost of basic resources such as water, shelter and fuels. As a direct result of this state-subsidised profiteering drive, the cost of living in Britain has risen considerably, and often the only way that the government can improve the situation, temporarily at least, is by throwing yet another lifeline consisting of public money.
There shouldn't be any surprise over this result:- The question unambiguously asked "Who runs Britain?" Had it asked "Who SHOULD run Britain?", or "Who has been ELECTED to run Britain?" the result would almost certainly have been different. In the early 1970's, I, along with a majority of my countrymen, voted in a referendum to join a free-trade area. Thanks to the now-evident duplicity and mendacity of Heath, and most subsequent politicians, we are having an unelected federal euro-bureaucracy imposed upon us. Please may we have a referendum on secession, so we may get back to electing our own leaders to actually do the job?
Please remember: next time you want to use a national form of address for comic effect that, in Portuguese, "Mr" is "Senhor" and not "Senor". Maybe you confused it with the Spanish "Señor", with the funny foreign accent...?
As we all know, the listeners of Today (of which I am one) are but a slender - if loudly chattering - slice of the Great British Electorate. Daan 'ere on the streets (even Upper Street) nobody really cares about Barroso, or even knows who he is.
Blair, on the other hand, is still blamed by people from every political shade for following Bush and dragging us into war. This really (in my humble but observant opinion) is a much greater issue for most people even now.
May I be the first to wish you a happy 2007.
Since Mr Blair and Mr Brown are elected to serve they should be gratified that comparatively few people thought them to be all powerful.
While some may view this as a rather laughable poll, it does deserve some serious media attention.
The fact is that Europe is essentially a federal state, despite the "no" votes last year in France and the Netherlands.
Elected leaders across Europe need to address the concerns of the more-and-more citizens that their voice is being taken away by foreigners in Brussels.
It is a real shame that some ECJ judge can force his agenda on the sovereign peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Following the ECJ judgement, the Commission could not resist the opportunity and set out their own interpretation of the judgment in a Communication. "nay" became "will". As they say in the accompanying press release, "The scope of this judgment exceeds by far the field of the environment, taking in the whole range of Community policies and the fundamental freedoms recognised by the Treaty."
"There is no question, however, of inserting criminal law provisions in every area of Community action." But just as many as they can get away with. The onus is on the Commission to prove otherwise.
"The insertion of criminal penalties in Community law must be based on a duly justified need". The excuse of the tyrant throughout the ages. Who exactly defines "duly justified need"? Justified to whom? The ECJ set themselves above the European Parliament (whose democratic credentials in any case do not stand up to too close an examination). The beauty of the British system (before Blair) was the convergence of the judiciary and politics in the High Court of Parliament, represented by the Law Lords.
The Commission continue:
"…and respect the overall consistency of the construction of the criminal law of the Union." Law that is not consistent is no law and the Commission are nothing if not consistent.
Happy New Year, but don't expect any good news for the UK from the heart of Brussels from where I write this.
If any other person had won the poll, would this have been brushed off lightly as a laugh? My antenna say probably not, which in itself reveals the mindset of auntie beeb. The fact is that Barosso or the EU, whichever way you like to call it, does have immense power which is unconstrained by democratic control. That is the nub of the matter, and though the media may prefer not to dig too deep on these matters for their own reasons, the public is not in an ignorant state of bliss anymore. If the poll reveals anything, it is that the grip of the media in general on shaping public perception is no longer the force it still thinks it is.
Today's listeners are either a funny or farsighted lot depending on your perspective. Remember that they were the people who voted overwhelmingly to let householders use whatever force was necessary to defend their property...
Dear Sir
I'm learning English language reading and listening 91Èȱ¬ radio on Portugal.
Relatively to the "Senor Barroso" on the Nick Robison's Blog I searched for the word "Senor" in few English dictionary and I have not found it (but maybe is similar to "Tenor"?).
This "Senor" either do not exist in any Portuguese dictionary (maybe similar to "Senior"?).
Either "Senor" is not in the Spanish-Castilian language (maybe similar to "Menor"?).
Sorry for my English language skills...