James Tidmarsh

Violence is being normalised against the National Rally

1 December 2025 10:20 pm

Jordan Bardella has been physically attacked twice over the past five days. Flour was thrown over him at an agricultural…

The report that lays bare France’s Islamist networks

25 November 2025 7:49 pm

Bruno Retailleau, France’s former interior minister, has with his Senate group just published the toughest report on Islamism in a…

France’s integration nightmare

23 November 2025 5:00 pm

France has spent decades telling itself the same comforting story: that the children and grandchildren of Muslim immigrants would become…

Why Trump is freezing out Five Eyes allies

15 November 2025 9:45 pm

The most powerful intelligence alliance in the world is breaking up. In January, Donald Trump restricted intelligence-sharing on Russia and…

The fall of Europe’s public service broadcasters

11 November 2025 5:00 pm

Europe’s public broadcasters were created to stop propaganda. Born in the wreckage of war to protect democracy from lies, they…

The French state is ashamed of its rose queens

8 November 2025 11:00 am

Every summer in small French towns from Créon in the Gironde to Salency in the Oise, a young woman dressed…

The tragedy of the Shein takeover of Paris

6 November 2025 5:00 pm

The most glamorous department store in Paris, the BHV Marais, a vast art deco landmark stretching along Rue de Rivoli…

Britain’s trains are dangerously exposed

2 November 2025 10:21 pm

Europe has seen this nightmare before. On 21 August 2015, a gunman armed with an AK-47-style assault rifle, a pistol…

Macron has declared war on free speech

2 November 2025 7:22 pm

Emmanuel Macron says Europeans should stop relying on social media for their news and turn back to traditional public media.…

Should mocking Brigitte Macron be a crime?

29 October 2025 11:50 pm

Ten people have gone on trial in Paris accused of harassing France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, online. The defendants, eight men…

The Louvre heist shames France

20 October 2025 7:24 pm

Thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris shortly after it opened on Sunday morning and stole nine invaluable relics from France’s crown…

Macron survives again – but at what cost?

16 October 2025 11:23 pm

Sébastien Lecornu’s government has survived a no-confidence vote – but only because Emmanuel Macron shelved the pension reform that once…

Macron has to choose: humiliation or defeat?

14 October 2025 12:50 am

Emmanuel Macron’s presidency is imploding, squeezed between enemies he can no longer outmanoeuvre. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Jean-Luc…

In reappointing Lecornu, Macron is clinging to power

11 October 2025 7:30 pm

Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, a loyalist whose government collapsed in mere weeks, and whose resignation…

Could Marine Le Pen save Macron’s presidency?

7 October 2025 6:01 pm

Emmanuel Macron is cornered, his presidency unravelling under relentless pressure. From left and right, there are demands to dissolve the…

How the judiciary took down Nicolas Sarkozy

26 September 2025 4:00 pm

A Paris court has sentenced France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy to five years, three of which must be served behind…

French town halls are weaponising the Palestinian flag

23 September 2025 9:42 pm

As Emmanuel Macron took to the global stage to recognise Palestine at the UN, over 80 defiant left-wing mayors back…

Sébastien Lecornu is Macron’s last hope

10 September 2025 6:58 pm

Emmanuel Macron has named Sébastien Lecornu, a loyal confidant, as France’s new prime minister after François Bayrou’s resignation. At 39,…

Marine Le Pen is calling the shots now

9 September 2025 7:07 pm

Emmanuel Macron projects authority, but he’s trapped. After the collapse of François Bayrou’s government yesterday evening, Macron faces a divided…

France has been plunged into crisis – again

9 September 2025 4:20 am

Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government has collapsed after a bruising no-confidence vote in the French National Assembly. MPs rejected his…

Will the Bloquons Tout strikes cripple France?

5 September 2025 9:31 pm

The French intelligence services are warning that next week’s Bloquons Tout mobilisation, set to start on 10 September, could dwarf…

The folly of blaming boomers for France’s financial crisis

29 August 2025 4:00 pm

Ministers are packing up their offices. Emmanuel Macron’s government, desperate to shift the narrative and rally support ahead of its…

Migrant riots have come to Switzerland

27 August 2025 9:11 pm

A stolen scooter, a police chase, and a fatal crash left a 17-year-old of migrant background dead. Within hours, Lausanne…

In defence of Notting Hill Carnival

27 August 2025 1:46 am

Every August Bank Holiday my neighbours in Notting Hill Gate pull down the shutters and disappear. Cornwall, Tuscany, anywhere but…

Is this the end for Emmanuel Macron?

26 August 2025 6:28 pm

Prime Minister François Bayrou has recalled parliament for a confidence vote on 8 September, betting he can outmanoeuvre a surging…