Gordon Brown turns his back

British prime minister Gordon Brown opened a press conference in Downing Street on Monday, with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso at his side, with a resounding declaration that: "I want to make absolutely clear that we will support him not only as the current president of the European Commission but for election as the next president of the European Commission."

With such a statement, only 11 weeks before the European elections, Gordon Brown has turned his back on the i...