Baroness Ashton? Who she?

In a recent article I mentioned Baroness Ashton, to which I received a response 'who is she?' 

The answer is that she is the EU Commissioner for Trade who took over from Peter Mandelson in October 2008. Why do we care? Because she is yet another example of what we are campaigning against (not her personally, but what she represents).

There are in fact three levels of democracy lacking between her appointment as a Commissioner and the public she supposedly represents.

Firstly, it doesn't look like she has ever stood for election. In other words, she has never received public support, or any political mandate in any capacity. While it isn't a requirement for the position, Commissioners perform a very political role and one might reasonably expect someone who has been approved by the British public at some point in their career.

Secondly, she is unelected to the post. She was appointed as the UK's primary EU representative by Gordon Brown (our Prime-Minister-without-mandate), and rubber stamped by the European Parliament. Even our own House of Commons didn't get to vote on her appointment.

Thirdly, she is a Labour peer appointed by the Labour Government. This sounds about right, until it is pointed out that the Conservative party won the last EU elections. Why then does the Labour party, without a mandate, have the power to appoint our Commissioner? The democratic choice of the British public in the EU elections was for the Conservative Party policies, not Labour... yet we still have a Labour Commissioner. Where's the democracy?

Isn't it about time that Commissioners, and every one else making major decisions and laws on our behalf, are elected directly by the people? Please support Libertas in June to end this anti-democratic system.