Conservative MEP blasts Gordon Brown at European Parliament

Ouch! I’d be surprised if Gordon Brown had a “bum” left after the verbal blasting he got yesterday from Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan (South East England) for how he’s handled the British recession:

Can you imagine the outrage coming from Democrats if any Republican stood up on the floor of the House or Senate and told Obama like it was in the way that Hannan did Brown? The cries of “racism” would be deafening.

Major props to Hannan for his courage, and also for his compliment to bloggers, who greatly aided in the video of his remarks going viral.

21 Responses to "Conservative MEP blasts Gordon Brown at European Parliament"

Richard says:

March 25, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Can we get him over here to address our alleged president? A couple minor tweaks, and the speech is good to go!
Public Secrets says:

March 25, 2009 at 9:01 pm

I have a new hero…

“You are the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government.” Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan scores three, nothing but net: Maybe the Republicans should borrow MEP Hannan for the next response to one of PBO’s speeches. (hat tip:…..
Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

March 25, 2009 at 9:03 pm

Unfortunately, Hannan’s an Obama fan, and for some pretty superficial reasons. Still, that speech was so good, I’m willing to give him a break — as long as he gives the Republicans lessons in rhetoric. That was the best I’ve heard since Zell Miller’s stemwinder at the 2004 RNC.
Sister Toldjah says:

March 25, 2009 at 9:13 pm

Anthony, I don’t get the impression that he’s an Obama fan. The comments he’s made about Obama so far show that he is cautious in his role as an MEP not to overstep his bounds when it comes to international relations with the UK’s biggest ally.
Bryan says:

March 25, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Any opposition party in the US should follow this gentleman’s lead; the sad part is, very few members of congress would even understand what he is saying, let alone be able to so eloquently deliver these truths. Good job Mr. Hannan; there are too few of your kind in representative positions.
Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

March 26, 2009 at 12:53 am

Well, I was going by a second hand report of his interview with Cavuto — perhaps not the best way to get information.
Helen says:

March 26, 2009 at 10:33 am

Actually, ST, Hannan is, indeed, an Obama fan. He wrote that during the election campaign and repeated it quite recently on his Telegraph blog. LINK 1

So Anthony is absolutely right. The reasons are really stupid: McCain, according to Hannan, is known to be in favour of further European integration, whereas Obama is not. Where he got that I could not find out even when I questioned him.

Secondly, this is not the real Parliament we are talking about. Nobody but nobody cares what happens in the Toy Parliament in Strasbourg/Brussels. They are not even the real legislators in the European Union. The Commission and the Council of Ministers are.

Thirdly, Hannan was quoting, without acknowledgement, John Smith, the Labour leader but two when he used precisely those words to John Major who was then Prime Minister. LINK 2

Nothing wrong with the speech but there is no need to get carried away.
Sister Toldjah says:

March 26, 2009 at 10:56 am

Maybe so, Helen, but Hannan spoke the words to Brown that a lot of people here in the states were feeling about our president, words they wish someone in the Congress would stand up and articulate with as much passion as Hannan did. It’s not an issue of getting “carried away” – it’s more of an issue of wishing like hell that we had someone here so bold to speak out forcefully against this administration as Hannan apparently is about the Brown government.
Brontefan says:

March 26, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Well stated, ST! We have a crew in Washington passing bills without ever reading them —and spending like crazy. We have somehow shifted the money arena to the control of the White House, via Sec. of Treasury–tax cheat, which completely disregards the checks & balances written into the US Constitution. Some of us are wondering when this insanity will end.
Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

March 26, 2009 at 12:59 pm

I’ve posted a video of the interview Glenn Beck has with MEP Hannan here. Compare how articulate he is to The One’s “ums and uhs.” I’ll lay 3-1 that he’s speaking before US conservative groups before the end of summer.
Helen says:

March 26, 2009 at 1:42 pm

Hannan is very articulate as are most British politicians. Remember people oohing and aahing about Blair, even if the man never said anything of the slightest interest. That’s just the way they are. Brown is attacked regularly in the Commons at Prime Minister’s Question Time though our present Speaker gets a bit narky. I can understand that you wish someone would attack the President but that is hardly a reason for getting quite so carried away about a routine speech in an unimportant institution. Oh by the way, Nigel Farage, Leader of UKIP also attacked Brown quite ferociously. But he doesn’t have a blog on the Telegraph website. Just saying. $:-\$ “
Helen says:

March 26, 2009 at 1:44 pm

I also think Hannan has already spoken to conservative groups on your side of the Pond, Anthony. He has been over quite a lot and is quite a favourite with various organizations. You can all ask him why he persisted in supporting Obama and why he campaigned for Cameron to be leader of the party.
Sister Toldjah says:

March 26, 2009 at 4:14 pm

Helen, again, this isn’t about getting “carried away” – that’s a faulty characterization of most of the people who have praised Hannan, I think. We don’t have very many articulate politicos here in the US, especially ones who would take on strongly someone who is supposedly “the most articulate president in history.” So when we hear a politico, whether it be Hannan, or Blair, or former Aussie PM Howard blasting someone or some group who deserves it (and no matter where it happens), it’s not unusual for us to praise and admire hearing something we so rarely do here in our own country. You might be used to it, but we aren’t.
Tony says:

March 26, 2009 at 5:28 pm

A lot of people are thinking what Hannan articulated so brilliantly. The trouble for Gordon Brown is that he is running out of friends both at home and abroad. He is serving on Tony Blair’s 2005 election victory (I doubt he would have won on his own ticket), and is still trying to do the job of Chancellor as well as PM. If Hannan is as good at doing politics as he is at talking about it then there ought to be a job for him with David Cameron. Gordon can then follow Tony Blair on the after dinner junkets.
Nina says:

March 27, 2009 at 8:25 am

Fabulous!!! … and with no tele-prompter.
Brontefan says:

March 27, 2009 at 11:17 am

Did anyone see Hannan’s appearance on the Hannity Show last night, Fox News Network?
He was brilliant and completely explained his original support for Obama. He also made it perfectly clear that nationalized health care [where civilians are determining who gets what and when based on cost effectiveness] is a disaster and should not be considered. I like this guy. Wish we had one of our own to stand up in Congress and SHOUT the “bleeding” obvious!
Helen says:

March 27, 2009 at 8:34 pm

Oh good grief. Of course, he had no teleprompter. None of our politicians do. You guys should get out more. It was a good speech. That’s it. It is Daniel Hannan’s job to attack Gordon Brown. He is a Conservative. It’s not as if he attacked his own party leader, wet though the man is. Nigel Farage’s speech was even better but he is leader of UKIP so the Conservative blogs are not going to praise him. Being in the European Parliament is a backwater and it does not look like Hannan will be in Westminster any time soon. I may be wrong. But I’ll tell you this: that speech is going to be used by the Conservatives (most of whom are Obama supporters by the way, with Hannan being one of the most articulate ones) to go after the eurosceptic vote in the forthcoming European election. They are very worried about them and this speech is a great weapon. I am happy to explain what I mean by that to anyone who is genuinely interested in British politics. (Yes, I know you understand it Anthony but you are a rare bird.
Sister Toldjah says:

March 27, 2009 at 8:41 pm

Helen, why can’t you just accept the fact that people here are so impressed with Hannan simply because he articulated so well what so many politicos here (of either party) would never have the courage to say to our own president, rather than lecturing people about it? So people here enjoyed a type of speech you guys probably get to hear quite regularly. It’s not the end of the world! The fact that there’s a continued argument about this shows that we’re not the only ones who “need to get out more.”

Oh – and the teleprompter crack from another commenter was a joke about how the only way it seems our president can give as flawless of a speech is when he’s got the ‘prompter in front of him. As I said in another post, conservatives here have been blasted for years about George Bush’s lack of eloquency, so teleprompter cracks about Obama are a bit of a payback for that.
Anthony says:

March 28, 2009 at 5:12 am

Obama and Hannan are drinking in the same saloon. For Obama the world wants him to succeed not only because of the terrible last eight years but also because he came over as an inspiring figure in a world where politics on all sides had become so discredited. We’ll have to pray that he succeeds, because if he doesnt we all lose. On limited visibility Hannan seems to have the same latent ability to get through to people quite out of the blue, but we dont have a clue what he would do if he ever had to take decisions himself rather than just criticise those who do. From a purely home perspective I just wish our man would stop blaming America for all our present problems.
Tony says:

March 28, 2009 at 7:21 am

My last submission should have been Tony rather than Anthony. Who can hope to understand politics when they cant even get their name right…
Anthony (Los Angeles) says:

March 28, 2009 at 5:23 pm

When I first read Tony’s first message in my reader, it was a Twilight Zone moment: “When did I write that? Great, I’m having blog-blackouts!”

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