Perfidy Across The Pond

The Cousins are enjoying a media blitz leading up to the EU summit in Brussels later this week.

Tony Blair has been accused of 'knifing' Gordon Brown by holding secret discussions about a job as the first ever President of the European Union.

The Prime Minister was entertained in Paris by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy at an upmarket restaurant called Thiou, where they agreed a joint agenda on Europe.

French political sources have confirmed that President Sarkozy is keen for Mr Blair to take on a full-time paid role as the 'face' of the EU after he quits Downing Street.

But such an appointment would be a disaster for the Chancellor, who has long struggled to escape from the shadow of his political rival.

And Eurosceptic campaigners warn that the prospect of a lucrative post-retirement job in Brussels would compromise Mr Blair's ability to strike a good deal for Britain at this week's European summit, when EU leaders meet to agree a new treaty.

Critics claim this will effectively be a full-scale European Constitution by the back door.

The summit will almost certainly also agree the creation of a new powerful post, President of the European Council.

Neil O'Brian, director of the Open Europe think-tank, said: "The risk is that if Tony Blair has even half an eye on this job he will be more concerned about being a "good European" than fighting for Britain.

"A bad European treaty will be a poison pill for Gordon Brown. The Chancellor has been knifed."

Mr Blair's private dinner with Mr Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia at the Thai restaurant on the banks of the Seine has echoes of a previous restaurant encounter where Mr Brown was outmanoeuvred.

In 1994, at Granita in Islington, Mr Blair is said to have made a deal to hand over power to Mr Brown during his second term, leading to later accusations of betrayal.

The Paris meal, revealed here for the first time, took place on May 11, days after Mr Sarkozy's presidential victory and hours after Mr Blair publicly confirmed his retirement date.

Members of the Democratic Caucus were unavailable for comment.