City Shitting Bricks…

As if the Dubai problem isn’t giving the City enough of a headache, it looks like the communists have won control of financial services in Brussels.

France has taken control of the EU’s key internal market and financial services job after a last-minute lobbying offensive from Nicolas Sarkozy in what will be seen as a huge blow for Britain’s Europe policy.

Michel Barnier, the French former foreign minister, was handed the full portfolio this morning despite intense British efforts to strip out financial services and give it to an economic liberal because of fears in the City of a new bout of regulation.

Ah well, at least we got to install an unelected chinless no-mark in the Foreign Minister role.

Amazingly, both Mandelson and Hague think Brown fucked it up. And he HAS fucked up.

Senior government figures including Lord Mandelson had argued that Britain should have held out for a key economic job in the new 27-member European Commission which was announced today. Instead the field was left clear for the French, Germans and Spanish.

…

William Hague, shadow foreign secretary, said the move was worrying for the future of the City: “We repeatedly warned the Government that going for the High Rep post and not a senior economic brief in the Commission could have worrying results. Once again Gordon Brown has put the next day’s headlines ahead of the long-term British national interest.”

Time for some bare-faced lies from Drowning Street:

Downing Street sources had insisted that they were fighting hard to stop financial services falling into French hands, at a time when key regulatory proposals on hedge funds, bank capital requirements and derivative trading are being prepared.

Chinnerous rack-ons Brown, you lying slithering cunt.

As an aside, Today, Constantly Furious reminds us, gold is worth $1164 an ounce. But in October 1998,

Brown offloaded our gold at a 20-year low in the market — its actually now known as the “Brown Bottom”. The average price received was $275 an ounce.

Back to the main story, and my favourite quote, from Dictator in Chief, complete and utter €unt, José Manuel Barroso.

Mr Barroso said: "I am confident I have assigned the right jobs to the right people. There were many requests but these were my choices alone," he said.

"I do not give portfolios to countries. I attribute them to individuals, to Europeans. I do not give portfolios to France, or Germany, or Britain or Italy. I give portfolios to people."

Oh, well that’s perfectly okay then. Quite fair, even handed and err…. completely undemocratic.

Cunts.

AJ