Scott Campbell

(from Blithering Bunny)

Last night Newsnight interviewed José Manuel Barroso. I was out and missed it – but it can be seen on the BBC2 Newsnight website. (The streaming video worked fine on my 1Mbit connection – a bit jerky and fuzzy, but really, this spells the end of conventional TV).

The first segment, presented by reporter Paul Mason, was actually not too bad. It was very shallow, of course, given its too-short time slot, and it had a ridiculous re-construction of what an EU “President” might say in his inauguration speech. But it was reasonably objective. And then Paxman interviewed Barroso. And it was astonishing. Barroso was being attacked by Paxman from the right.

Paxman claimed that the EU was failing to meet its ambitious growth targets because there was too much regulation. Barroso wouldn’t commit to cutting much regulation. In fact, he was very vague in general. There was too much red tape, he conceded, but what was needed was “better regulation”, not less. Barroso’s claim to be more pro-enterprise was falling apart. As Richard North argued yesterday, the supposed “unashamed economic liberal” is no such thing. So, well-done Paxman.

P.S. You had to laugh… The first segment introduced the British economist behind an EC report into how the EU could better achieve what is called the Lisbon Target (ie. matching the US), and it was Will Hutton. Yes, Mr Third Way himself, who conceded that the EU was not doing too well on the economic front. He seemed to be saying that the EC needed more power to enforce its targets. Well, he’s recently conceded that he got a lot wrong in his earlier work, and he said “I won’t make the same mistakes next time – just some new ones”. He’s already started on them by the looks of this.

And then Hutton’s killer line: “This could be the first serious failure the European Union has had since its foundation”. So there’s never been a serious failure in the EU before? Not the common fisheries policy? Not the common agricultural policy? Not the thousands of small businesses crushed by absurd regulations? Not the hiring of Will Hutton? If it wasn’t for the BBC and The Guardian continuing to take him seriously, Hutton would already be on the scrapheap of history.

(Thanks to reader David Burbage for the tip-off about last night’s show).