France
The idiotic myth of the ‘lone wolf’ attack
In the summer of 2020 the French Senate published a report on the ‘Development of Islamist Radicalisation and the means…
Macron may well win. But Macronism is dead
President Emmanuel Macron was in an expansive mood this week as he commandeered the splendid beaux arts Grand Palais in…
France's political elite created Eric Zemmour
Love him or loathe him, Eric Zemmour is a breath of fresh air in French politics. Before he appeared as…
The downfall of the French middle class
The chesty Corsican taxi driver was giving me his earnest appraisal of the way things were headed in France politically.…
Power fail: French tantrum diplomacy is wearing thin
It’s hard for tabloid journalists to engage in mad hyperbole when politicians seem all too willing to do it for…
Macron's selective defence of free speech
In the early years of his presidency, Emmanuel Macron became known as Monsieur ‘En Meme Temps’. The president of France…
Eric Zemmour is eating Marine Le Pen alive
French opinion polls are best taken with a generous bucket of sel de Guérande but this evening’s drop of a…
Von der Leyen is the real winner of the German elections
The bald guy who leads the Social Democrats. The earnest looking Green lady. Or perhaps the guy in the charcoal-grey…
Emmanuel Macron and the art of tantrum diplomacy
France’s fit of pique following Australia’s cancelled submarine contract – and the signing of the Aukus pact – is a…
The Bataclan trial is forcing France to confront some difficult questions
It’s a stroke of good fortune for France that Salah Abdeslam is a coward. Had he not been he would…
The case against Aukus
The case against Aukus
The beauty of the Normandy memorial
As the cross-Channel ferry noses into Ouistreham, I have a perfect view westward along the D-Day beaches. The excitement of…
The EU should keep out of France's spat with Australia
Ursula von der Leyen has demanded a full investigation. EU officials are considering pulling out of technology talks with the…
Biden is losing Nato
The forming of the Australia-UK-US (Aukus) military alliance in the Pacific shows how everything Trump can say, Biden can do.…
The real reason France was excluded from Aukus
The fallout from Australia’s cancellation of its submarine contract with France and the new trilateral Indo-Pacific security pact between Australia,…
Aukus is a disaster for the EU
It is hard to overstate the importance of the so-called Aukus alliance between the US, the UK and Australia —…
I rather enjoy my chemotherapy sessions
With a French health card everything is free for us cancer patients, even taxis to and from the hospital. ‘This…
Macron's ambitions have been torpedoed by Aukus
Today France is outraged. First, explicitly because Australia has broken a large contract to have a French company design their…
Macron is playing Eric Zemmour’s tune
In a big speech yesterday, Macron presented himself in almost Nixonian terms as guardian of law and order. He said…
Hidalgo has trashed Paris. Can she do the same for France?
Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, whose reign has submerged the city in debt and rubbish, is the latest…
A tale of refugees from ‘Brexit Britain’
In the New Year I was introduced to a couple who had fled Britain impulsively on New Year’s Eve with…
The West's Islamist capitulation
On Monday, Tony Blair addressed a military think tank in London and stated that the West should continue to intervene…
Was I the picture of evil incarnate?
Not long after Catriona and I first met, her husband painted my head and shoulders portrait in oils as I…
France's provocateur is coming to London
Five years ago, London’s affluent French poured their dosh into the campaign of Emmanuel Macron. This time around, supporters of…
Is the EU trying to hamstring the French military?
Much recent discussion has focussed on the collapse of Afghanistan and the decline of the West. The humiliating American-led Western…
