France and Germany: brilliant mediafuck

Seeking an escape from Non-voting French voters, Chirac takes a predictable path: looks around for someone else to attack. As usual, it’s the UK in his sights – and due to New Labour’s ineptitude, the whole situation’s been effortlessly narrowed down to the single issue of Britain’s £3bn rebate. (The rebate, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in the 80s, lets it pay only two and half times France’s contribution into the EU budget, instead of 15 times.)
The media’s now taking this issue to be the whole story – Chirac’s precise intention. I call these ‘mediafucks’, where the judicious use of terminology turns the whole situation back on the opponent. Bush did one over 9/11 when he used it as an excuse for Iraq, Blair’s been doing one after another since he arrived in power.
There’s one way out – but Blair’s not taking it. All he has to do is start referring to France’s £7bn from the CAP as ‘the French rebate’ – and repeat this new terminology, endlessly. ‘I will be in Paris to discuss reductions in the £7bn French rebate.’ ‘I will be asking the EU to reconsider the French rebate.’ ‘CAP reform would produce an important reduction in the French rebate.’
Come on Tony. Just remember how you recast public anger over Iraq into a single, narrowly-focussed report by Hutton, how you neutralise any threat to your authority by writing the brief of any public inquiry yourself and populating the team with your pals. Beautiful mediafucks all.