In an uncertain world, it’s reassuring to fortify oneself with a few truisms such as All Cows Eat Grass, All Men Are Mortal and All Entries For The Eurovision Song Contest Are Bound To Be Trash. Let me add another: All French Politicians Are Lefties.
From time to time a new face appears on the French political scene who is announced as right wing. Who can forget Nicolas Sarkozy? Well, I’m trying to. He was said to be a conservative and to have “broken the mould” of socialist leaders in France.
The broken mould was quickly restored to its former perfection as Sarkozy revealed himself to be a collectivist like all his confreres.
Step forward the next alleged mould-breaker, the so-called “centrist” Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frederic Macron, born on St Thomas’ Day 1977. He is to become France’s new president in a couple of weeks, for no better reason than that the French Establishment – a very powerful force, unlike the French Resistance – can’t stand Marine Le Pen who is always described, at least when people are speaking politely, as of the “far right.” No, she’s another socialist – perhaps even a national socialist – and her economic policies are to the left of Hollande’s.
At least Macron has had an education to fit him for his new job. he has a master’s degree in public affairs and he went on from that to study at the Ecole Nationale D’Administration, France’s top college for apparatchiks and career bureaucrats – a bit like PPE, but for people imagined to have some intelligence. >From there he slipped silkily into the post of Inspector General of Finances. After a short break at Rothschild’s to allow him to make his millions, as all successful socialists and egalitarians do, Macron was appointed Deputy Secretary General to Francois Hollande, the leftist of the French lefties who buggered what was left of the French economy after Sarkozy had departed the scene.
Asked about his political and economic beliefs, Macron replied he is in favour of “collective solidarity.” In other words, do as the trades unions demand, or they’ll set fire to all the motor cars.
He is also an enthusiastic Europhile and a committed federalist who wants to “strengthen the EU and provide a common budget.”
He shares Frau Merkel’s open door immigration policy. No wonder Angela is in raptures at the prospect of Emmanuel’s appointment!
He is an avid global warmer and wants to see “ecological transition” which, being interpreted, means more windmills.
At least young Manny Macron displays the French tradition of toujours l’amour. He fell in love with his schoolteacher, Brigitte Trogneux when he was fifteen – she is twenty-four years his senior – and now they are wed with three children from Brigitte’s first marriage.
What are we to make of all this? Just that in Frogland Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose
I agree with Roger. The UK and France are both great nations, in different ways (Vive la Difference!) the two most civilised on earth. They and the rest of Christian Europe have been despoiled by Socialism and its attendant heresies.
I don’t want to sound stuffy but I don’t think it is appropriate for a magazine such as SR to publish articles using derogatory terms like “Frog” for French people. I must admit some disappointment with SR for publishing this, we might expect to see this in “Private Eye” or perhaps the house mag at some minor public school. Frankly it is a boorish and even chav-ish piece.
The man crying in the photo is Monsieur Jerome Barrett, he cries as he watches France’s symbols of greatness removed from France to a destination in Africa. He cries at the defeat and humiliation that France has suffered at the hands of the NAZI army. That defeat and humiliation would have been repeated in Britain but for the English Channel.
Isn’t Mr. Mullen some kind of functionary of the Anglican Church? Bishop, or bellringer, or something. I ask Mr. Mullen if he believes that Jesus was a “hang and flog em” Tory, a laissez faire capitalist who believed that the devil should take the hindmost?
I suggest that if he is a Christian and not something of a collectivist then he is profoundly intellectually confused.
France has a highly developed social welfare system that has served it extremely well, up to the point where France was flooded with 3rd world trash. France also has a level of social cohesion completely missing in England. It is not France who leads Europe in drug and alcohol abuse, bastardy, violent crime and juvenile dysfunction.
Candidate Macron will be elected President in two weeks time and the EURO and the EU will be strengthened. It is not the EU which is falling apart, it is the UK.
For someone who doesn’t want to sound stuffy, you certainly sound very stuffy.
Unfortunately Ingoldby, these days, anyone with any standards whatsoever is regarded as stuffy.
The fact that every politician from Europe is saying how important it is that he wins may well play against him in the end. The people (who do vote after all) get rather tired of being told what to do. And one day they just don’t do it, much to the surprise of the powers that be. This may be one of those days.