Nick Griffin to represent the EU at Copenhagen climate conference

Mouse cannot think of an individual less suited to the job. Really. Not a single person on the planet less suited to this role.

Nick Griffin, leader of the racist British National Party, believes that climate change is "essentially a hoax" and a "global marxist conspiracy". The idea of Nick Griffin representing Europe on anything is pretty upsetting. Whilst he was democratically elected to represent a slice of Britain in Europe we can't avoid his presence on the political scene for the time being, but for him to be part of a delegation at the UN Climate Conference at Copenhagen in December representing the European Parliament really is a joke.

Griffin has got himself onto the European Parliament's Environment Committee, and so will be at the conference in that capacity. In reality there's nothing really to worry about. He won't have the right to speak at the conference, and the European Parliament's presence at the conference is really not much more than symbolic.

And it is this whole situation that shows up the European Parliament. It has absolutely no authority at the conference, so cannot do much more than sit on the side-lines and try to look like they're there for a reason. The fact that people like Griffin get themselves involved in these things shows just how undemocratic the whole thing is. He really doesn't represent any significant slice of public opinion either in Britain or across Europe on this issue.

The whole affair is completely unsatisfactory.