‘Stop Blair’ campaign gains traction

Glenys Kinnock has done her old friend Tony Blair no favours by announcing he is ready to stand as President of Europe and has Gordon Brown's backing. The 'Stop Blair' campaign in both Britain and Europe will now move into top gear.

It was always thought Blair might like the job - the title obviously appeals - but would have to balance the status of the post against the fact he would have to abandon his other lucrative jobs in the private sector as well as his role as Middle East envoy. He has also been sensitive to the fact that Ireland has still to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, which creates the new Presidency, and he has not wanted to appear to take that vote for granted.

But Lady Kinnock's remark that "the UK government is supporting Tony Blair's candidature for President of the Council", made in Strasbourg yesterday, left no room for doubt that Blair is quietly campaigning behind the scenes and that he has Brown's support. And that will immediately raise questions in the UK over why the Prime Minister is quite so ready to help his old adversary.

The answer many in Westminster have already leapt to is that it is all part of the deal Brown and Blair did months ago which ensured Blair called off his dogs in the Parliamentary Labour Party, through his 'agent' Lord Mandelson, and removed the immediate threat to Brown's leadership.

That thought will be enough to infuriate many Labour MPs who will now urge Brown to start looking for an alternative candidate. They will be supported by the Tories and Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has already said: "He [Blair] should be let nowhere near the job. It shows what a grip Lord Mandelson now has over Gordon Brown that he has been forced to support his bitterest rival."

But perhaps the most powerful opposition to Blair will come from other EU leaders. They will be asking whether they really want their first President to be a man who led a country who refused to join the euro, helped split the EU over his support for the President Bush and the Iraq war and who was seen as a fierce opponent of a more politically unified EU, supported by many other countries.

There are also concerns over what Blair would make of the post. The first President of Europe will have a great opportunity to develop the job as he or she wants it and there are fears Blair would use if to promote Tony Blair rather than the European Union.

The decision on who gets the job will be made by the other leaders if and when the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. Already Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Nicholas Sarkozy and Sweden's Fredrik Reinfeldt are said to be opposed to Blair. Members of the European Socialist group in the Strasbourg parliament are also said to have severe doubts.

By jumping the gun and 'officially' announcing Blair's candidacy, Lady Kinnock has given the 'Stop Blair' campaign fresh enthusiasm for their task. ·