Gavin Mortimer

Macron’s EU gloom is well placed

5 October 2024 10:00 am

Michel Barnier was interviewed on prime time television on Thursday night and not once in his 45 minutes of conversation…

It’s time to break the stranglehold on the migrant crisis debate

4 October 2024 5:57 pm

John Major and Nicolas Sarkozy are grandees of their respective centre-right parties. But the days when the Conservatives and the…

Michel Barnier seems shocked by Emmanuel Macron’s mess

2 October 2024 8:53 pm

Prime Minister Michel Barnier addressed parliament on Tuesday afternoon as he outlined his government’s policy programme. The priority, explained Barnier,…

What will happen to Europe if it can’t control the migrant crisis?

30 September 2024 6:28 pm

The victory of the Freedom party in Austria’s general election came as Israel intensified its air strikes across Lebanon. Lebanon’s…

French women are afraid. But the country’s politicians don’t seem to care

27 September 2024 3:30 pm

In a country that has become accustomed to atrocities in the last decade, the brutal murder of a 19-year-old student…

Putting Marine Le Pen in prison will make her more popular

26 September 2024 5:01 pm

There was a vigorous interview on Tuesday morning on a prominent French radio station. The guest was Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a…

Is Michel Barnier’s cabinet really conservative?

23 September 2024 10:15 pm

Emmanuel Macron’s new government marks, in the words of the BBC, ‘a decisive shift to the right’. That is also…

Naivety won’t solve Britain’s migrant crisis

23 September 2024 3:00 pm

Events of the last week have demonstrated the fierce determination of some migrants to reach their European destination of choice. Last Sunday, hundreds…

France – and even Michel Barnier – is tiring of Emmanuel Macron

20 September 2024 5:50 pm

France can’t go on like this. The country, and its overseas territories, are in chaos. On Wednesday night two men in…

Diane Abbott doesn’t understand fascism

19 September 2024 3:00 pm

Diane Abbott believes that Giorgia Meloni is a ‘literal fascist’. That must come as a surprise to the 12.3 million…

Will Michel Barnier govern for the provinces or for Paris?

16 September 2024 5:17 pm

Michel Barnier will unveil his government in France this week, a fortnight after the 73-year-old was nominated by Emmanuel Macron…

How Grenoble became one of the most dangerous places in France

13 September 2024 5:45 pm

At the start of this year Grenoble was described as ‘France’s Silicon Valley’ and listed as one of the most…

The EU is disintegrating before our eyes

11 September 2024 7:08 pm

Germany’s decision to reintroduce border controls in an attempt to halt mass immigration is awkward for Keir Starmer. A fortnight…

Michel Barnier puts the French left to shame

9 September 2024 8:50 pm

The French left took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the appointment of Michel Barnier as prime minister.…

Keir Starmer is falling into the same trap as Francois Hollande

9 September 2024 3:30 pm

There has been no honeymoon for Keir Starmer after his election victory in July. That is hardly a surprise as…

Michel Barnier is France’s new PM. It’s hard to think of a worse job

5 September 2024 11:37 pm

Michel Barnier is the new prime minister of France. Best known in Britain as the EU’s chief negotiator during the…

Why France blames Britain for the Channel migrant crisis

5 September 2024 5:44 pm

Only hours after twelve migrants drowned attempting to reach England from France another group set out. This time they were…

How long can Macron ignore French voters?

4 September 2024 6:02 pm

It was way back in the first week of July that the French went to the polls to elect a…

Angela Merkel played a key role in the rise of the AfD

2 September 2024 7:38 pm

To no one’s great surprise, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) romped to victory in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of…

‘France killed my husband’ – the rising anger of the gendarmes

30 August 2024 8:26 pm

A gendarme was killed in France on Monday evening when a driver ran him over at a routine roadside checkpoint in…

Britain should exploit the mess Macron has made of France

28 August 2024 8:48 pm

Whether one is a Leaver or a Remainer, for most Britons Brexit has not worked out the way they wanted.…

French Jews are living in fear

27 August 2024 5:13 pm

The Paralympics begin in Paris tomorrow but the feel-good factor generated in France by the Olympic Games at the start…

The Islamists want to silence music the way they have free speech

25 August 2024 10:26 pm

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday at a festival in Germany that left three people…

Why aren’t left-wing anti-immigration parties called fascists?

24 August 2024 4:30 pm

It is almost six years to the day since the charismatic German left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht launched a new movement…

This is only the start of the small boats crisis

20 August 2024 7:21 pm

Illegal immigrants continue to flow into England across the calm waters of the Channel. The latest data from the Home Office…