The Spectator’s Notes | 12 May 2005

Les événements in France have provoked self-congratulation here. Apparently, the French model of assimilation is bad. If they had our multiculturalism, the celebration of diversity and ethnic monitoring, everything would be much better, it is said. The French are 20 years behind us, etc. It seems but yesterday that I read praise of France for its tough secularism which forbids anything religious in state schools and exalts being French above everything else. I also read that France would escape serious disturbance because it had been opposed to the Iraq war. It would be better to accept the truth that any European country with a large Muslim population faces serious unrest at present, and stop gloating when it happens, for a week or two, to afflict our neighbour, not ourselves. It would also help, when these occasions are reported, if we could be told straight away what is going on. I listened to the on-the-hour news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning.