Fury at president’s ‘axis of evil’ speech: Patten lays into Bush’s America: ‘Chris Patten, the EU commissioner in charge of Europe’s international relations, has launched a scathing attack on American foreign policy – accusing the Bush administration of a dangerously “absolutist and simplistic” stance towards the rest of the world.

As EU officials warned of a rift opening up between Europe and the US wider than at any time for half a century, Mr Patten tells the Guardian it is time European governments spoke up and stopped Washington before it goes into “unilateralist overdrive”.’ Uhhh, George? Anybody home? There’s probably no more valuable, trustworthy feedback you should be listening to than the growing sense of everyone in Europe (except your obsequious toady Blair) that you haven’t a clue on how to manage a real alliance if your life depended on it…