David Graeber of the LSE has an interesting article on the yellow vests (they are not vests but waistcoats – itself another misnomer of course – but I suppose as we have bullet proof vests we have to accept vests as a translation of what is jackets in French!) movement in France. I think David… Read more
Category:
French Presidential Election 2017
Worthless of the world unite
There is a lovely ‘Le Monde’ quote that “The elites talk about the end of the world while the people talk about the end of the month.” And that indeed would appear to be a predominant complaint of the ‘gilets jaunes’. Macron has enhanced the impoverishment of the people whilst the rich have been granted… Read more
Simple is best
I draw attention to this story from France with a heavy heart since it also shows that it it is not only the the NHS that has problems. In Britain, 999 is the oldest emergency telephone number in the world having been launched in 1937. In France there are also emergency numbers – but four… Read more
Président Macron’s government to sell Paris’s airports
I was most impressed with a journalist’s summation on France 2 of the proposal by Président Macron’s government to sell Paris’s airports. They are currently owned by just a shade more than 50% by the state.. The Prime Minister has said it is not part of the government’s purpose to extract dividends from infrastructure. Though… Read more
Trump to visit Paris on le quatorze juillet
It seems to have been little reported but Donald Trump is to visit Paris on the 14th of July. There is much discussion on how and why this is before he visits Britain, which the French consider unusual but also where there seems to be some opposition to his visiting… For us in the UK,… Read more
“Moralement irréprochable”
I’m sure I don’t need to translate this, but it was the reason Emmanuel Macron gave for delaying the announcement of his Prime Minister’s cabinet. He wanted to ensure they were all on the straight and narrow. How refreshing!… Read more
The need for mutuality in the economy and society in general
I see the French Left – irrespective of vision – has repeated the mistake that robbed Jospin of the chance to run for the Presidency in 2002, namely, failure to agree on a single standard-bearer, given that Mélenchon got 19.6% and Hamon got 6.3%,which combined would have put the single standard-bearer ahead of Macron. The… Read more