Posts by SanchiaAlasia:
Hollande Snubs Cameron
February 10th, 2013By Sanchia Alasia.
The French president Francois Hollande, last week snubbed British Prime Minister David Cameron at his drive to reduce the proposed EU budget, in which he eventually succeeded. As Cameron walked into the meeting he said:
“The numbers are much too high. They need to come down – and if they don’t come down there won’t be a deal”
Cameron managed to convince German chancellor Angela Merkel and the two EU presidents, Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy to agree to put forward a lower EU budget as individual EU countries were tightening their belts. This is the first time the EU budget has been reduced. Hollande was due to attend the meeting but did not show up. Instead, he met the leaders of Spain, Italy and Poland – a rival group of southern and eastern European nations that all favour a bigger EU budget than Cameron. Hollande was keen to preserve measures to boost economic growth and called for an EU budget that:
“Includes savings that do not weaken the economy, has sufficient money earmarked for agriculture and support for poorer regions, while still promoting innovation and protecting the most vulnerable”
The budget still has to be approved by the European Parliament. There are fierce debates over whether the vote should be secret or open and transparent. The UK Labour party supports an EU budget cut but Hannes Swoboda, President of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament stated that the proposal circulated cuts priority policies that could foster growth and employment. As the budget outlined is for seven years, there are calls for flexibility, so that adjustments can be made without it going back to the European parliament for approval.
France to roll out the red carpet for UK business
February 1st, 2013By Sanchia Alasia.
In June 2012 David Cameron said that Britain would roll out the red carpet for wealthy French nationals wanting to leave France due to François Holllande’s implementation of the 75% tax rate for those earning over one million euros per annum. Fast forward to January 2013 and Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Secretary is now offering to roll out the red carpet for UK businesses if the UK votes to leave the European Union.
Business’s in the UK have raised concerns about Cameron’s plans, which culminated over two weeks to a letter being published in the Financial Times from Virgin’s Richard Branson, London Stock Exchange head Chris Gibson-Smith and eight other business leaders that warned against Cameron’s plans to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership.
Read the full article here.
European fascists set to benefit from EU funding
January 22nd, 2013By Sanchia Alasia.
In September 2012 I reported why nationalist political parties like the UK’s BNP and France’s Front National party would be rubbing their hands in glee. Their positions are set to be potentially strengthened by gaining monies of €400,000 for 2012, funded by the European Parliament. Monies are set to be allocated over the next two weeks.
If successful, they will gain this money from a €30 million fund, because the Alliance of European Nationalist Movements (of which the BNP and Front National are members), is officially recognized by the European Parliament for the first time. They have had a further boost with the EU’s Secretary General recommending they get the money.
Parties such as the European Socialists have been receiving this money for some time and their funding may decrease because of this development. The funding would serve to strengthen the Nationalists’ position within the European Parliament. This is worrying given their stance on immigration including free movement within the EU.
Comments from Front National leader Marine Le Pen only last month – where shecompared Islamic prayers to the Nazi occupation – had many in dismay.
The European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefcovic announced new rules for the funding of pan-European political parties and their associated think tanks. One of these changes now requires EU funding only be given where these parties and foundations observe the values of the European Union, “namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities”.
The last part, on minority rights, is a new addition. This was meant to make it harder for parties like the BNP to gain this funding. However it looks likely now they will be able to convince the European Parliament and European Commission they meet all of the conditions.
Having campaigned against the BNP in the 2010 local elections in Barking and Dagenham and against the London Regional Coordinator Robert Bailey for my own council seat, I have experienced first-hand how nasty the BNP and parties like them can be. All the Labour MEPs have signed a petition. I would urge you to do likewise. Let’s hope this possibility of the Nationalists receiving money remains unfulfilled.
Le Pen’s Fascists bar press from their Reichsparteitag
December 17th, 2012By Alasia Sancha.
The far right party in France, le Front National, held its party conference over the weekend. Read my piece about what happened on left foot forward.
Le Pen on the rise? French Fascists seek to take advantage of UMP’s troubles
December 2nd, 2012Sanchia Alasia.
The troubled Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) leadership bid and François Hollande’s popularity slump may have left an open door for Front National and their leader Marine Le Pen to resurge.
Indeed Le Pen recently stated “the Union for a Popular Movement is dead” and has also been making her delight of the UMP crisis clear on social networking sites, as they clearly see an opportunity to become the main rivals to the Socialist party in France.
Le Pen did not win a parliamentary seat – however, her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen did, becoming the youngest member of the French parliament. MM is said to be attracting younger members to the party.
The recent UMP leadership battle largely had the party of former French president Nicholas Sarkozy divided, and although Jean-François Copé was eventually declared the winner, he only won by 98 votes.
The caveat is that Copé is seen as more right wing than his contender François Fillon. In this sense, if Copé can unite the party again, UMP could actually draw in Front National supporters.
With the next presidential elections being so far away, there may be time for UMP to become a formidable force again. However, if the UMP party fragments because of this crisis, it could create a vacuum for the right wing which Le Pen’s French Fascists would be only too happy to fill.
There is no room for complacency from either UMP or the Socialists who must keep their eye on the ball to ensure a Front National surge does not occur.
Anti-immigration Copé succeeds Sarkozy as UMP leader – but don’t rule out a comeback
November 25th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
After the crushing defeat of the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy after just one term in power six months ago, members of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) have finally voted on a new leader this weekend.
The two candidates were former prime minister François Fillon and UMP Secretary-General Jean-Francois Copé, with support split the party down the middle, resulting in allegations from both sides of electoral fraud, despite judicial staff overseeing the process.
At one stage during the process, both candidates declared themselves the winner. Eventually the underdog, 48-year-old Copé, was declared the winner on Monday by just 98 votes, despite widespread predictions of Fillon’s win.
Copé’s first task will be to unite the party and ensure they are not overtaken by Front National and Marine Le Pen. Copé will also hope Sarkozy’s recent troubles will not have an impact on public support.
Copé is seen to have a strong anti-immigration stance having produced “A Manifesto for an Uninhibited Right” in which he claimed gangs in the city suburbs were fostering “anti-white racism”. The party was founded in 2002 by former president Jacques Chirac.
There does, however, seem to be an open door for Sarkozy to return as the candidate for the 2017 elections as he remains very popular among UMP members, with many among them publicly calling for his return.
A recent survey by Ifop found 53 per cent of right-leaning voters would like to see Sarkozy and not Fillon or Copé be the UMP’s presidential nominee in 2017. Yesterday, however, Sarkozy summoned by a Bordeaux judge to answer questions over party donations.
Downfall of a President: Nicolas “Mr Bling” Sarkozy in Bribe Scandal
November 11th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be questioned by a judge in Bordeaux this week over bribery allegations. The charge is that Sarkozy – affectionately known as “Mr Bling” – accepted more than half a million pounds from Liliane Bettencourt to help fund his 2007 presidential campaign and promised Bettencourt tax breaks in return.
If the allegations prove to be true, this would be illegal as French law limits donations to parties to 7,500 euros per person per year with only 150 euros to be given in cash. Sarkozy was known for his lavish presidency, as opposed to the current president Francois Hollande who was dubbed “Mr Normal”.
Bettencourt, who is the heiress of the cosmetics giant L’Oreal and currently the richest woman in France, has had a number of former employees testify against her, stating Sarkozy attended her private residency to pocket the cash deposited in brown envelopes. Sarkozy, who lost the French presidential election in May, denies the allegations. There are other corruption allegations against Sarkozy who is no longer immune from prosecution following his election defeat, including one that alleges he accepted millions of euros from the deceased Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. His home and offices were searched in July by French police in relation to the investigations. If Sarkozy is found guilty of corruption, he could face a spell in prison.
Will Foreign Residents get the Right to Vote in France?
October 29th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
At the Socialist Party conference in Toulouse on Saturday, recently elected Socialist Party leader Harlem Désir caused a stir when he reminded the crowd of President François Hollande’s pledge to give foreign residents the opportunity to vote in local elections. This certainly would help foreign residents to participate and become more involved in public life and seems fair seeing as they pay full taxes. Only residents that reside within the EU can vote in local elections. The UK currently allows citizens of the European Union and commonwealth citizens to vote in local elections in the UK.
This longstanding bill has been in the pipeline for a number of years now and was originally promised by former Socialist president François Mitterrand during his 1981 campaign. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy opposed the bill even though he backed it during his presidential campaign in 2007. Further delay has now occurred with it looking unlikely that the bill will have enough support over the next six months for it to become law in time for the 2014 local elections. In 2000, France’s lower house agreed a bill giving all legal foreign residents the right to vote in local elections—but it was never finalised with the upper house. There is now a petition on the UMP website to oppose the bill with one of their reasons being that this will thwart the “blue” tidal wave at the next local elections.
75 Socialist French MPs presented a petition in Le Monde urging the current government to move faster on plans to give foreign residents the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections. Not all Socialists are in favour of the bill however, with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault describing the bill as “controversial” and “lacking support in parliament” in an interview with radio station France Inter last Wednesday. Adopting this bill would need another get over another major hurdle which would be a change in the French constitution which states that electoral rights are reserved to “French nationals “only. There are also fears that if the bill is adopted the Front National could use it as a platform for negative campaigning against the Socialists.
A poll on the topic by French daily le Parisien in late 2011 found 61% of respondents agreeing that foreigners should have the right to vote in France’s local elections. A more recent poll published last month found the exact opposite result, with 61% of respondents against the bill. Time will soon tell whether Hollande’s election promise can be fulfilled.
Strasbourg Killing Raises Fresh Questions about Integration in France
October 8th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia
The killing in Strasbourg on Saturday by French police once again raised the issue of integration and immigration in France, particularly as this is the second terrorist killing by police in the past year.
There are also 11 members of a suspected terrorist cell being questioned by police following dawn raids in Nice, Paris and Cannes.
These raids were sparked by a grenade attack on a Jewish shop on September 19th, where police traced DNA results to the prime suspect, Jeremy Sidney, to inform their raid operation on him in which Sidney opened fire on the police.
Sidney, a recent convert to Islam, was 33 years old and a French national. He was also an ex-prisoner, who was convicted for drug-trafficking.
Earlier this year in March Mohamed Merah was killed by police in Toulouse after a sickening attack on members of the Jewish community where four soldiers, three Jewish children and a Rabbi were killed. Merah claimed his actions were directed against France’s military presence in Afghanistan, the killing of Palestinians and the ban on wearing the full face veil.
The weekend’s shootings have once again brought race and immigration to the top of the political agenda.
After the raids President Francois Hollande said:
“The state is determined to protect the French people against any terrorist threat.”
The threat is still ongoing as the raids found money, ammunition and a list of Jewish groups throughout the Paris region. In response to Merah’s killing in March, France’s cabinet is currently reviewing a new anti-terrorism bill targeting French citizens who travel abroad, notably to Pakistan or Afghanistan, for possible terrorism training.
It is anticipated that if passed the bill will allow authorities to prosecute French citizens who return to the country after:
“… having committed an act of terrorism abroad, or who travel overseas, particularly to the Afghan or Pakistan region, to train in terrorism camps with the intention of coming back to France.”
The situation at present is that police can only act when offences are suspected or committed in France. This is just one measure France seeks to undertake to tackle the terrorist threat within its borders and the rise of attacks targeted towards the Jewish community.
Hollande’s pursuit for tax capital set to raise €20 billion
September 20th, 2012
By Sanchia Alasia.
François Hollande, rested from his summer holiday, this month outlined his plan to France’s Court of Audit of how the tax system will operate under a socialist government. His intention is to raise €20 billion in new taxes – which include a 75% tax on millionaires – and has assured the French public this will not be reneged on.
This, coupled with his €30bn savings plan, sees Hollande aim to reduce the deficit to 3% over the next two years. The French public will keep a keen eye on his plans to whether austerity measures and public sector cuts will feature alongside.
His taxes have seemingly already sent the rich packing. The world’s fourth richest man, Louis Vuitton, Moët and Hennessy boss Bernard Arnault, is currently pursuing Belgian nationality, but states this is so he can conduct business more easily over there. Arnault has pledged to continue living in France.
Hollande’s response to Arnault was a firm one:
“He must weigh up what it means to seek another nationality because we are proud to be French.”
There would be no exceptions in a 75 per cent tax on incomes above one million euros, the President added.
There is speculation Hollande plans to exempt sports stars and artists from the new 75% tax rate although this has not been confirmed. There were protests in July when the state auditor of France said unemployment benefit payments to artists and other creatives were unsustainable.
Recent opinion polls show the public has lost some confidence in the government four months after Hollande won presidential office.
Nationalist’s parties set lose EU funding
September 20th, 2012
Sanchia Alasia.
In February 2012 I reported an announcement from the European Parliament recently had political parties like the UK’s BNP and France’s Front National party, rubbing their hands in glee. Their positions would have potentially been strengthened by gaining monies of 289,266 Euros for 2012 funded by the European Parliament.
They would have gained this money from a 30 million euro fund, because the Alliance of European Nationalist Movements of which the BNP and Front National are members was officially recognised by the European Parliament for the first time. Other parties such as the European Socialists have been receiving this money for some time and their funding was set to decrease because of this development.
The funding would have served to strengthen the Nationalists position and campaigns within the European Parliament. This was worrying given their stance on immigration including the free movement within the EU.
At the end of last week however the European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefcovic announced new rules for the funding of pan-European political parties and their associated think-tanks. One of these changes now requires EU funding only be given where these parties and foundations observe the values of the European Union, “namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities”.
The last part, on minority rights, is a new addition. This will make it harder for parties like the BNP to gain this funding. It will depend on whether they are able to convince the European Parliament and European Commission that they meet all of the conditions. British MEP’s along with the campaigning organisation Hope not Hate lobbied for this change.
Having campaigned against the BNP in the 2010 local elections in Barking and Dagenham and against the London Regional Coordinator Robert Bailey for my own council seat, I have experienced first-hand how nasty the BNP and parties like them can be. And having received racial abuse just last week from a BNP supporter confirms my fears.
Britain should stay in the European Union
August 29th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
I attended a debate at the London School of Economics last month, which had a panel debating whether Britain should stay within the EU. The panel members consisted of Sir Stephen Wall, George Eustice MP, Roger Helmer MEP, Mark Reckless MP, Dr Helen Szamuely and Evan Davis as chair. It made for an interesting albeit that the panel was skewed in a negative way towards the EU with only Sir Stephen Wall a former adviser to Tony Blair making valid arguments for Britain to stay within the EU, whereas the other panel members were against this. It was interesting to note that Roger Helmer MEP was a former Tory turned UKIP, which may give an indication of how similar their views are.
The debate began with Sir Stephen Wall outlining how the EU successfully manages the conflicting interests of 27 neighbouring counties in an effort to unite value systems. This has resulted in peaceful, prosperous, stability within the EU. New countries that wish to join the EU need to have high standards of democracy.
As Britain is one of the larger member states, we have one of the most powerful voices. Many of the legislative changes that the EU has brought, has benefitted the UK.
The other panel members outlined their arguments stating that no one under the age of 55 has voted on this issue as it has been 37 years since the last referendum. Current opinion polls show a majority of the British public may want to come out.
So should Britain stay within the EU? I believe so. Despite the comments from UKIP that Britain should go it alone, being in the EU has many benefits for us including:
Safer and Cheaper Flights
The EU has provided us with not only safer flights but also cheaper flights and increased competition between carriers registered in the Member States. Cheaper flights are the knock-on effect of a huge improvement in air traffic management and increased competition.
Student Exchange Programmes
Within the last 10 years the EU has created different education programmes in order to give students the possibility to experience different national cultures and broaden their personal horizon. Up to now 1.2 million students have benefited from the ERASMUS Programme and many more are expected to experience it in the future.
The Single Market
The Single Market is one of a kind as it guarantees ‘free movement’ of people, goods, services and capital. At a practical level, it provides the possibility for EU citizens to live, work, study and do business throughout the EU, as well as enjoy a wide choice of competitively priced goods and services.
Peace
Peace in Europe was first created when an alliance was made between Germany and France and the European Coal and Steel Community was founded. Europe has come a long way since with a lasting peace amongst its Member States. International security is now a major issue for the EU: with increasing threats to a peaceful society in different areas of the world, the EU has put in place many policies to combat such problems.
Cheaper and Better Phone calls
The liberalisation of the telecommunication markets in 1998 and the on-going development in the field of technology have resulted in a steady decrease in prices within the EU. This means that it is cheaper to call your friends and family and choose between different operators.
Consumer Protection
Consumer protection and the safety of food in the European Union are two issues that have always gone hand in hand. The Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General’s main responsibility is to provide laws and regulations on the safety of food and consumer rights.
A Healthier Europe
The public health issues dealt with by the EU are numerous and cover a number of different areas. They concern both men and women, young and old. The EU has also introduced the European health insurance card that is your guarantee if you should fall ill when going abroad.
Environmental Protection
In the EU environmental issues including initiatives concerning protection have been underlined as some of the most important points not only for discussion but also for action. For instance, the EU is leading the “Kyoto” drive to reduce the air pollution that causes global warming.
Equal Opportunities
The promotion of equal opportunities and the fight against Discrimination are considered some of the most important issues within Europe and many directives have been put in place to combat inequalities that occur in the Member States.
Better working conditions
EU legislation has brought workers in the UK a 48 hour working week (with opt out clauses), a minimum of 28 days annual leave per year, maternity and paternity leave and enhanced pension rights.
The benefits of the European Union need to be publicised more as relinquishing these would have far reaching implications for us as a nation. Perhaps Hollande’s idea of a multi-speed Europe will come more into fruition as something that is more acceptable to the British public. The question is do we want to be at the table, or outsiders seeking friend and allies to represent our views for us. As for the arguments about the EU’s democratic deficit, there is just as low voter turnout in UK elections as there are in the European elections. The EU currently makes up half of UK overseas investment and we have full access and influence within the single market. For all of its flaws, Britain should stay within the EU.
Hollande first 100 days in office
August 20th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
France’s finance minister Pierre Moscovici confirmed this week that the country is on course to cut three per cent of gross domestic product by next year, despite a socialist president being in power for 100 days.
President François Hollande, the Socialist president, is planning to stick to the debt reduction targets set in motion by former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Some Socialists may have preferred Hollande to make a clean break from UMP policies, but Moscovici states that continuation of the deficit reduction plan will keep borrowing costs low.
This may be slightly at odds with Hollande’s rhetoric that harsh austerity measures are not the only path to growth. No doubt Hollande’s tax on the rich will help him to accomplish some of the savings targets, but the path to recovery may be a slow and tortuous one as there has not been growth in the French economy for the previous three quarters.
No doubt the 2013 budget setting process that begins in September will be an interesting programme as Hollande seeks to protect jobs, boost growth as well as reducing the budget deficit.
A recent survey of French voters by Ifop for Le Figaro newspaper showed that a third of those that took part said they trusted Mr Hollande’s Socialist government on cutting debt, while four out of 10 thought he could find a solution to the Eurozone crisis with other European leaders.
So Hollande has a lot of convincing to do yet. The Le Monde newspaper said at the weekend: “After 100 days, Mr Hollande still needs to assert his leadership.”
The French public may have been hoping that Hollande would have had more of an impact on turning the tide on the Europe wide austerity plan. We will have to wait and see how Mr Normal tackles the huge challenges ahead.
Hollande takes a jibe at Cameron
August 2nd, 2012
By Sanchia Alasia.
The French president François Hollande yesterday stated some home truths about the empty seats fiasco at the Olympics and made a cheeky dig at the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Cameron probably won’t be invited to the steps of the Elysée Palace soon unlike opposition leader Ed Miliband. Cameron and Hollande did however sit next to each other yesterday during the women’s handball game.
Cameron made a statement before Hollande’s stunning election victory in France, that Britain would roll out the red carpet for French citizens who wanted to avoid Hollande’s 50% tax hike for high earners and snubbed him during his visit to the UK during his presidential campaign. The red carpet statement has come back to haunt him a few times since then and Cameron ended up rolling out the red carpet for Hollande during his first official visit to the UK as French President.
Hollande, celebrating France’s gold medal success as well as them being third in the medal table compared with Britain yet to win a gold medal and being 21st said:
“The British have rolled out a red carpet for French athletes to win medals. I thank them very much for that, but the competition is not over”.
He went on to state some home truths about the empty seats fiasco that is no doubt giving Lord Coe sleepless nights and would have many members of the British public agreeing:
“The problem is that there are simply too many corporate seats. It will be up to French organisers to sort out this problem if a bid for a future games is to be successful”, hinting that an Olympic games in France would not pander to rich corporate sponsor interests and make more seats available to the general public.
Hollande did not criticise the organisation of the London Games though. It could be that Hollande is hopeful that in France’s likely 2024 Olympic bid, Paris would be successful.
French artists may suffer from benefit cuts
July 31st, 2012
By Sanchia Alasia.
The state auditor of France today said that unemployment benefit payments to artists and other creatives were unsustainable. France is in a rather unique position in that it artists and creatives have a special system since 1960 called “intermittents du spectacle” to collect unemployment benefits, that is the envy of many artists across Europe.
The system recognises that a feature within their industry is that they may have gaps in-between jobs and so cushions some of the problems that arise with this.
The system is not up for review until next year but it is currently running at a €1bn deficit. The state auditor stated that the system “is not sustainable in the current context of public finances”. Employers were also criticised as they potentially hire workers for the minimum hours needed and then expect this benefit to make up the shortfall.
This is not the first time changes to unemployment benefits for French artists have been touted. In 2003 strikes in Avignon, mobilised by over 135,000 freelance performing arts, film and television professionals, closed down one of France’s most recognisable theatre festival and resulted in the sacking of the then culture minister.
The French president François Hollande is yet to make a public statement on this issue, but it would seem that cuts to unemployment benefits in this area may not go down well with Socialists who are seen as the party that will protect the public from the brunt of the recession.
The system does not have strong opposition from the general public. Dissenting voices in France on this issue, which tend to come from the right, argue that the arts are too costly and the “intermittents du spectacle” system is unnecessary.
Hollande makes no secret of his support for Ed Miliband
July 30th, 2012
By Sanchia Alasia.
UK Labour leader Ed Miliband met his socialist counterpart French president, Francois Hollande, in Paris on Tuesday.
Despite Ed not having campaigned for Hollande during his bid for the presidency, he was warmly greeted in public on the steps of the Elysée Palace; an unusual occurrence for an opposition leader.
It seems clear that Hollande has a closer bond with Miliband than David Cameron as the Labour leader is now the most senior British politician to hold talks at the president’s official residence since his election victory in May.
As part of their short 35 minute meeting, they managed to discuss a variety of topics including the economy, the emergency situation in regards to youth unemployment, Syria and the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire in the future for its Grand Depart.
The Telegraph reported:
President François Hollande of France supports the campaign to have a stage of the Tour de France bike race pass through Yorkshire in 2016.
He offered his support during a meeting in Paris with Labour leader Ed Miliband, who is MP for Doncaster North.
Mr Miliband raised Bradley Wiggins’ triumph in the Tour de France and the bid by Yorkshire to bring the bike race to the North of England with President Hollande.
Ed also agreed to join a future centre left summit, which is being hosted by Hollande later this year to further talk about the agenda of jobs and growth.
Hollande and Ed both agree that harsh austerity measures are not the way to solve the economic crisis. Socialists will no doubt hope that Ed and Hollande working as a political force together can begin to steer Europe from the path of austerity to the path of growth.
After Ed’s meeting with Hollande, he addressed the Socialist group on the national assembly through a translator and was given rapturous applause when he stated that Britain’s place is “firmly in Europe”.
This may be the clearest sign yet of the Labour party’s policy on whether the UK should stay in or out of Europe.
This post was also published on leftfootforward
Le Pen v Madonna
July 17th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
French Front National leader Marine Le Pen announced her intentions to sue global pop star Madonna this week, for displaying a video image of her that has a swastika on her face.
Although this image was show during Madonna’s recent Paris concert for her song ‘nobody knows me’, she has used it before in previous concerts.
The issue is compounded by the fact that an image of Adolf Hitler follows Le Pen’s image in the video. The crowd can be heard cheering in support of Madonna at the point where Le Pen’s image is shown.
Time Magazine reports:
On July 15, officials for extreme-right leader Marine Le Pen’s National Front (FN) announced the party has decided to sue Madonna for using an image of Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead during a July 14 Paris concert.
The segment also contained imagery of other world leaders the singer presumably has problems with, such as Pope Benedict, Sarah Palin, Hu Jintao and Hosni Mubarak.
National Front vice-president Florian Philippot remarked:
“Marine Le Pen will defend not only her own honour but her supporters and the millions of National Front voters.”
Le Pen has been the most successful Front National leader to date. Although she failed to become an MP, her party gained 18% share of the vote in the first round of France’s presidential election.
Le Pen has been credited for trying to move the Front National away from extremist links and has been successful in appealing to a younger electorate. Her niece Marechal-Le Pen is currently the youngest member in French parliament.
Time continues:
But if the singer gets mostly applause from international audiences who identify Le Pen as Europe’s best-known face of xenophobic right-wing politics, she may find herself with fewer allies in France as a result of associating Le Pen with Nazism.
The reason? Though Le Pen presides over a reactionary and Islamophobic party, she’s also clearly not a fascist, not a Nazi and not Hitler.
Comparisons of Le Pen and her party to her father’s rule over the FN not only leave many people in France feeling Madonna’s jab misunderstands Le Pen’s relatively moderate positioning but even victimizes her with an unfair association with the Nazi symbol.
Madonna has not indicated whether she will remove the image for her forthcoming show in Nice on August 21st.
Is there a chance the pop singer’s intention to discredit the politician will backfire, creating supportive sympathy for the Front National leader?
This article was also published on leftfootforward.
Hollande says UK’s future lies within Europe
July 16th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
David Cameron last month said Britain would roll out the red carpet for wealthy French nationals, but yesterday rolled out the red carpet for François Hollande’s visit to the UK, in his first official trip here as French President.
Hollande outlined to David Cameron their two countries’ future lay in a multi-speed Europe.
At a press conference yesterday, Hollande stated he does not believe the UK intends to block what the eurozone countries are trying to achieve.
He said:
“We need to conceive a multi-speed Europe with each country running at their own pace, taking what they want from the European Union with respect for the other countries.”
Cameron said France was an essential partner to Britain as he has difficult decisions to make about if and when to hold a referendum on the UK position in Europe.
He is trying to hold off until 2015, but faces growing calls from backbench Tories as well as the general public to hold a referendum in this parliament.
The British public are unlikely to get an ‘in or out’ question, though – it seems more likely the UK’s relationship with Europe could be called into question, with the UK wanting to repatriate some powers back from Europe to gain more sovereignty. Hollande’s call for a multi-speed Europe, would then give the UK the breathing space to work to a different beat to the rest of the EU.
Hollande and Cameron also have different ideas on how to get their countries back on the path to growth, with Hollande planning to hit the bankers and the wealthy and Cameron favouring austerity and public sector cuts. It was a short 90-minute lunch meeting, with Syria and defence also on the agenda. Hollande also had an even shorter 30-minute meeting with the Queen.
Hollande calls for EU solidarity
July 14th, 2012By Sanchia Alasia.
François Hollande flexed his political muscles and urged the EU summit in Brussels, to support European countries such as Spain and Italy in their time of financial crisis, which may need swift action to mitigate the impact on their citizens.
Angela Merkel reiterated that there would be no collective pooling of debt but Merkel and Hollande did agree that a financial package of 120bn euros should be advocated to the summit, which the European leaders signed up to.
These funds will be used to support those counties on shaky financial ground. The Eurozone is on the path to greater integration as a banking union was discussed.
One of Hollande’s pledges for France, which was about tackling youth unemployment, now has a 60bn euro fund targeted towards this across Europe.
Hollande and Merkel did put their differences aside to state that they were united on austerity and ‘one Europe’ where everyone helps each other, nut are divided on how this is best achieved. Merkel also stated that she would not “give Europe her credit card without guarantees”
Spain and Italy are likely to look to Hollande, to challenge Merkel strict austerity methods of handling the EU economic crisis. Hollande true to form, issued policy proposals for the summit which focused on a growth and jobs pact.
The EU summit in Brussels gave an opportunity for the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Spain to discuss common issues before a full EU summit next week.