HAVING TO FACE THE ELECTORATE IN THE MORNING TENDS TO FOCUS THE MIND:

Go back and stand up to the French, Brown orders Blair: Chancellor insists prime minister resists move to drop free market clause (Ian Traynor and Patrick Wintour, June 23, 2007, The Guardian)

Gordon Brown dramatically intervened in a crucial European summit yesterday to overrule the prime minister in his last week in office and demand that Britain challenge a French move to dilute Europe's commitment to a free market.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, triggered a row at the Brussels meeting by watering down a pledge to maintain "free and undistorted competition" in the operation of the single European market.

Mr Brown, who was not attending the summit, intervened with Tony Blair after the prime minister assented to the French demand. He phoned Mr Blair three times in Brussels as he digested the potential impact of the Sarkozy coup. A chastened prime minister was forced to go back to the negotiating table to demand a new "protocol" to guarantee that the EU's powers to regulate cartels and anti-trust issues were not impaired.

Wow! George Bush wasted no time shifting his mind control powers to Gordon Brown, eh?

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 22, 2007 6:56 PM