Après les élections déprimantes et frustrantes du mois dernier, le Guardian nous informe que la Commission des droits de la femme et de l’égalité des genres (c’est son nouveau nom) du Parlement européen vient d’acquérir un membre issu du UKIP, le Parti de l’Indépendance du Royaume-Uni.
Godfrey Bloom, le monsieur en question, sera un vrai champion des droits de la femme. Voici comment il envisage son rôle (c’est moi qui traduis):
Je veux m’occuper des questions des femmes parce que je crois qu’elles ne nettoient pas assez derrière le frigo. […]
Je vais faire avancer les droits des hommes. [ndlt: à ne pas confondre avec les droits humains, autrement appellés les droits de l’homme] […]
Je suis ici pour représenter les femmes du Yorkshire, qui font toujours en sorte que le repas soit prêt quand vous [sic] rentrez. […]
Aucun patron de PME qui se respecte et qui a le cerveau à la bonne place n’embauchera jamais une femme en âge de procréer. […] Je le sais parce que je suis moi-même un homme d’affaires.
Charmant.
Pour des informations complémentaires concernant l’UKIP, voir cet article paru dans Libé.
Billets connexes : Elections, elections, Meanwhile in France, Election: maps / cartes, The register of electoral campaigning, Citations d'hier, What's your MP up to?, SNCF : Zero en géo
Technorati (tags): EU, gender, politics, politique, society, UK
Don’t worry. Mr Peter Mandelson (Mandy to his Brazilian chums) is on the way to EU HQ in Brussels. Mandy resigned not once but twice from the cabinet of the UK government for financial impropriety. The unmarried Mandy will obviously make a big impact where it counts as our new EU Commissioner (Commissar).
Well, I’m in France, and there’s a string of court cases waiting for the president once he finally leaves office (if he ever does). His former PM has actually been found guilty of illegal party financing and just stepped down from the position of party leader. He might become an EU commissioner, to think of it. (The commissioner business is what I find most harmful to EU democracy.)
“Unmarried”? Now that’s an euphemism I haven’t seen in a while. I’m all for objecting to financial wrongdoing, but on other counts Mr Mandelson might just be qualified to work on gender issues. But as a commissioner, he won’t be doing that.
I scarcely think Mr Mandelson is qualified, properly, to carry out any of the functions of a commissioner whether they are in his remit or not. His appointment has focussed, very sharply, the general unsuitability of many of the people appointed, to what are clearly, undemocratic and unaccountable positions of almost unlimited power, complete immunity, and very considerable largesse. Not to mention the perks and junketting. Peter Mandelsson will no doubt cut a very fine and dandy figure on the canape circuit, while he buries, quietly, the remainder of our sovereignty. (And if I knew how to put in accents I would do :) )