Today's up date on matters French
Having been reassured that folk find my French updates interesting, onwards and upwards with a heightened sense of purpose:
Dominique Voynet has got the nod for the Greens, and Le Monde is reporting that Sarko has gained four points in a month and now betters Segolene Royal at 35% to 32%. Meanwhile 'don't knows' are making a breakthrough, rising from 14 to 21%.
Le Figaro enumerates the runners and riders for the Socialist candidacy, noting "Ségolène Royal is far in front, with Laurent Fabius bringing up the rear. In between are Lionel Jospin, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Jack Lang and François Hollande, all becalmed and wondering how to once more break sail".
And Le Figaro investigates the big issue of the day: Why are pebbles round?
Having been reassured that folk find my French updates interesting, onwards and upwards with a heightened sense of purpose:
Dominique Voynet has got the nod for the Greens, and Le Monde is reporting that Sarko has gained four points in a month and now betters Segolene Royal at 35% to 32%. Meanwhile 'don't knows' are making a breakthrough, rising from 14 to 21%.
Le Figaro enumerates the runners and riders for the Socialist candidacy, noting "Ségolène Royal is far in front, with Laurent Fabius bringing up the rear. In between are Lionel Jospin, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Jack Lang and François Hollande, all becalmed and wondering how to once more break sail".
And Le Figaro investigates the big issue of the day: Why are pebbles round?
Labels: France
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on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at 8:55 am.
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love the rise of the don't knows.
what I like about the french stuff in here is that it's short,often witty and it's concise.Lot of info in a short piece.read the daily mail so never get any news from europe except about corruption but have no interest in reading the broadsheets because they're boring.
my question:how is Le Pens party doing in the running at the minute.
Last time round it did make me laugh to see all the lefties having to vote for Chirac to keep him out.Do you think he still has the pulling power?
The Lefties can't be disappointed with Chirac. I heard that Le Pen is on about 12% and if Chirac stood in the first round he would score 8%.
I've dug up the source material from the French pollsters, and Le Pen looks to be good for around 12%, whoever gets the Gaullist / Socialist nominations. After last time, I cannot conceive that the PS won't get their vote out and make it to second round.
I too found the buisiness of Greens, Trots and sundry Lefties voting for Chirac absolutely priceless. There was a popular slogan in 2002 of 'Vote for the crook, not the fascist'. Measnwhile Arlette Laguiller is holding steady at circa 4.5% - this is a woman who might be too hard core for the SWP.
o/t watched a fascinating programme late t'other night on brits living and working ni france.one was a manc who ran a restaurant called le timbre.he could not get waitresses because they were only allowed to work 35 hours a week and for the money,people couldn't live on it.
The manc was saying that far from creating jobs it had meant lots of little firms shutting down.
Much as I can't stand the French,I do admire their peculiar ways and particularly their socialism when the world around them left it alone twenty years before.And wehn they give the US the two fingers it's the only time I feel proud to be a european
Rigger - and the thing which is so daft that anyone with a CSE in economics could have told Jospin's government that the measure would destroy jobs rather than create them.
As it is, the French labour market is unbelievably rigid - it is very hard to get into work in the first place because it is so difficult for employers to get rid of underperforming staff. As a result, the level of nepotism that goes on is astonishing - employers know that they can put the squeeze on existing staff who are related to the useless / slack and thus they are more employable. It is no wonder you can't move for Gauls in South West London. And don't get me started on how much they all want to work in the public sector, because of the pay, benefits, pensions etc. A while back a series of jobs as posties attracted certainly hundreds, maybe more, applications per job because of that.
I'm not entirely in agreement with you on the third paragraph, but the way the French government sticks up for what it deems to be the national interest is a marvel to behold.
On a related point, but on the domestic scene I was more than perturbed to learn that graduate starting salaries in the Uk in the public sector are now higher then the private sector. The Tories have a lot more to do than simply win back power.
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