The lifestyle magazine Elle is best known for its beauty tips, fashion recommendations and recipe ideas but the latest issue in France contains what could be one of the more significant political statements this year.
In an interview with Emmanuel Macron, the publication asked what he thought of ‘identity politics’. His response was robust, a welcome change to the frequent cowardice of other Western leaders when confronted with the aggressiveness of this movement. ‘I see a society that is progressively racialising itself,’ said the French president, adding that ‘the logic of intersectionality fractures everything.’
It’s not the first time that Macron has waded into the culture war. In June last year he was an exception among Western leaders at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in unequivocally stating in a television address that ‘the Republic will not erase any trace, or any name, from its history… it will not take down any statue.’
Then in the autumn he incurred the wrath
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