Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.
When the 27 leaders of the European Union met in Brussels this week, the migrant crisis was high on the agenda. In her opening remarks at the summit, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen drew attention to the deals agreed in the last 12 months between the bloc and countries such as Tunisia and
It was only a few months ago that the bogeyman of the Paris elite was Jordan Bardella. Now it’s Bruno Retailleau. The 63-year-old practising Catholic may not be able to match the 29-year-old President of the National Rally when it comes to charisma and style, but nonetheless Retailleau has become the darling of the right
Emmanuel Macron is said to be appalled by his new right-wing government. A confidant of the French president conveyed to AFP the depth of his despair. ‘I did not choose this government,’ Macron reportedly told his inner circle. ‘They make me feel ashamed.’ Macron’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level of his second
In the same week that over 1,000 migrants arrived in England, the head of MI5 admitted his agency had ‘one hell of a job’ on its hands. Ken McCallum said that while there is a threat from Russia, China and Iran, it was Islamist terrorism ‘that concerns me most’. In particular, al-Qaida and the Islamic
France’s Interior Minister is the tough-talking Bruno Retailleau. In his inaugural declaration a fortnight ago, he hammered out his three priorities: ‘The first is to re-establish order, the second is to re-establish order, and the third is to re-establish order.’ Standing behind Retailleau was Gerald Darmanin, the man he was replacing as France’s ‘top cop’.
It is a year almost to the day since a French schoolteacher was killed by a young Islamist. Dominque Bernard, a high school teacher in Arras, died almost exactly three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty, was slain in similar circumstances and by the same ideology. A memorial service this week will remember Bernard; on
Emmanuel Macron has chosen to mark the first anniversary of Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel on 7 October by criticising their response. In a radio interview, the president of France announced that ‘the priority today is to return to a political solution, to stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza’. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
Michel Barnier was interviewed on prime time television on Thursday night and not once in his 45 minutes of conversation did he mention the name Emmanuel Macron. There was an indirect reference to the president of the Republic, when Barnier described himself as the ‘anti-Jupiter’ Prime Minister. ‘Jupiter’ was one of the nicknames bestowed on
John Major and Nicolas Sarkozy are grandees of their respective centre-right parties. But the days when the Conservatives and the Republicans dominated the political landscape of Britain and France are long gone. The fortunes of both parties have dwindled as the migrant crisis has deepened. Neither the Tories nor the Republicans confronted the phenomenon with
Prime Minister Michel Barnier addressed parliament on Tuesday afternoon as he outlined his government’s policy programme. The priority, explained Barnier, was to tackle France’s ‘colossal’ debt of 3.2 trillion (£2.7 trillion) euros, which has left the Republic with the ‘sword of Damocles hanging over the head of France and every French person’. The gravity of
The victory of the Freedom party in Austria’s general election came as Israel intensified its air strikes across Lebanon. Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, says that more than one million people have been displaced from their homes as a consequence of the military strikes. The ramifications of the turmoil in the Middle East will terrify
In a country that has become accustomed to atrocities in the last decade, the brutal murder of a 19-year-old student has outraged France. The body of the young woman, named only as Philippine, was discovered last Saturday in the Bois de Boulogne, a famous park in the west of Paris. She had gone missing on
There was a vigorous interview on Tuesday morning on a prominent French radio station. The guest was Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a senior MP in Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, and the last question put to him concerned his leader’s impending trial on charges of financial impropriety. Tanguy had on two occasions to remind the presenter to
Emmanuel Macron’s new government marks, in the words of the BBC, ‘a decisive shift to the right’. That is also the view of Le Monde, the newspaper of the French left, which quotes Socialist party chairman Oliver Faure’s description of it as ‘a reactionary government that gives democracy the finger’. This government is not right
Events of the last week have demonstrated the fierce determination of some migrants to reach their European destination of choice. Last Sunday, hundreds of migrants stormed the frontier dividing Morocco from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the African coast. The Moroccan police fired bullets into the air to ward off the intruders. ‘They do this deliberately to scare
France can’t go on like this. The country, and its overseas territories, are in chaos. On Wednesday night two men in New Caledonia were shot dead by security forces after a confrontation on the Pacific Island. The insurgency began in May and shows no sign of abating with the rebels determined to gain their independence from
Diane Abbott believes that Giorgia Meloni is a ‘literal fascist’. That must come as a surprise to the 12.3 million voters who elected her prime minister of Italy two years ago. Not to mention King Charles, who hosted Meloni at Blenheim Palace in July. The Right Honourable Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington described
Michel Barnier will unveil his government in France this week, a fortnight after the 73-year-old was nominated by Emmanuel Macron as the fifth prime minister of his presidency. It will be a government composed overwhelmingly of people from Barnier’s own party, the centre-right Republicans, and Macron’s centrist coalition. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally have ruled
At the start of this year Grenoble was described as ‘France’s Silicon Valley’ and listed as one of the most desirable cities to live in the country. It embodied Emmanuel Macron’s ‘start-up nation’, the dynamic vision he sold to the French when he was elected president in 2017. Millennial techies and green engineers flocked to
Germany’s decision to reintroduce border controls in an attempt to halt mass immigration is awkward for Keir Starmer. A fortnight ago the British Prime Minister, a friend of European free movement, visited Berlin and among the issues he discussed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were trade, defence and immigration. Things are so bad that Draghi
