Comments by "J Drake1994" (@JDrakeify) on "Owen Jones meets Lord Adonis: 'Nigel Farage is effectively prime minister'" video.

  1. Jean Claude-Juncker became President of the European Commission by being the nominee of the party with the most seats in a hung parliament. So in other words, he has as much of a mandate as Theresa May has, or David Cameron had for five years between 2010 and 2015, or most other leaders of EU member states which have parliamentary systems. The rest of the commissioners are chosen by Juncker in consultation with the European Parliament, and the European Council, which are also elected bodies. In that respect, they are not unlike American cabinet secretaries. It's not the same system of governance of ours, but that doesn't mean it isn't democratic. The majority of people can't name a European commissioner because there hasn't been the opportunity for them to find out. Media coverage of European government is well below that of Westminster or any other devolved institutions. No wonder that British people are the least knowledgeable about the EU out of any member state. It isn't the EU's fault if it fails to get coverage, particularly as large sections of the print media will hardly pay any attention to it on a day to day basis, then without any hint of irony complain that the public don't know anything about European institutions, and use it as a reason to justify us leaving.
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  2. Michael Foot was a Eurosceptic at the time of the 1975 Referendum, but he changed his view later on. He even favoured joining the Euro towards the end of his life. I believe Barbara Castle was another one of the leading 'No' campaigners who became went on to become pro-EU.
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