In 2013, France outplayed us at the diplomatic game
An anonymous British diplomat in Brussels once summed up his job as "sticking it to the French day after day". In fairness, he was joking – or at least half-joking. But his words betrayed how the...
View ArticleAnti-Semitic comedians and 'boss-napping': France spirals towards chaos
Finally, Francois Hollande has done something smart. This week he backed a move to ban shows by the controversial French "comedian" Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, on the grounds that they threaten public...
View ArticleDavid Cameron focuses on Ed Miliband's 'Entente Fatale' with François Hollande
Here is a picture David Cameron wants you to keep in mind. It shows Ed Miliband with the Conservative Party’s "arme secrète" at the next election. David Cameron will be meeting François Hollande at a...
View ArticleMisery in Britain; panic in France: welcome to 2014
listen to ‘Misery in Britain; panic in France: welcome to 2014’ on Audioboo We're back – and we're kicking off with a generation war! Whether you see it as arthritic oldsters filling up their pension...
View ArticleFrançois Hollande's affair: Why the French are admirably relaxed when it...
Thank goodness for l’affaire Hollande, a scandal as juicy as a proper coq au vin. Just as civil wars, famine, and Angela Merkel’s fractured pelvis threatened to mire the year’s start in gloom, François...
View ArticleBritain can learn from France, the new sick man of Europe
In France, all eyes will be fixed on the Elysée palace today for François Hollande’s first press conference of the year. It is the occasion of the traditional New Year “voeux”, or the expression of...
View ArticleThe lesson of François Hollande's affair is that the 'first lady' concept is...
Series three of Game of Thrones left at least one character in an interesting predicament. Once, as King Joffrey’s betrothed, Sansa Stark had almost an assured position at court. Almost. But they were...
View ArticleFor a lesson on free markets, look to France
Who is the greatest ever French man or woman? Napoleon Bonaparte? I’d argue his involvement in human affairs was largely destructive. Louis Pasteur? He must have helped save an awful lot of lives....
View ArticleWhat North African anti-Semites learned from the French
This week a French judge ordered the comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala to take down a YouTube video. In it, he says he “knows nothing about the gas chambers” but can refer his viewers to “Robert” – that...
View ArticleWhat exactly is the point of the G20?
It started as the G6. Back in 1970-something, finance ministers from the world’s six leading economies – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and the UK – got together to talk. They had, one might...
View ArticleSo much for France's socialist revolution: François Hollande is to name a...
At the time of writing, François Hollande of France is expected to name Manuel Valls as his new prime minister. The decision follows dismal poll results for Mr Hollande’s Socialist Party. Could this...
View ArticleCrabs, cannibals, diamonds and the echoes of Europe's sombre African empire
In 1977, the journalist Michael Goldsmith witnessed the transformation of the Central African Republic into the Central African Empire. Jean-Bedel Bokassa proclaimed himself emperor in the style of...
View ArticleIgnore the cleavage police. Women should go to work with their breasts held high
What a broad that Ségolène Royal is! According to reports coming out of Paris, France’s new ecology and energy minister is royal by name, royal by nature; she’s supposed to have laid down a set of...
View ArticleAlain Juppé: France should renegotiate to keep Britain in Europe
It is sometimes said that France is an obstacle to David Cameron's hopes for a European renegotiation, or that France would happily see the UK leave the EU rather than have to compromise in any way on...
View ArticleWW1: 67 days to go – a suicide bomber targets the French president, Winston...
It's Friday May 29 1914, and the most intriguing story of the day comes from France, where Raymond Poincaré, the French president, is the intended victim of a suicide bomber, described both as an...
View ArticleWW1: 3 days to go – France and Germany mobilise, Germany declares war on Russia
August 1 1914: for a fuller version of how the day's events unfolded, have a look at this hour-by-hour account There is so much for The Daily Telegraph to report on August 1, the key dispatches being...
View ArticleWW1: 2 days to go – as Russo-German war begins, the German ambassador leaves...
August 2 1914: you can read a full, hour-by-hour account of the events of the day here but below are the highlights of The Daily Telegraph's coverage. Thank you, by the way, for the interesting...
View ArticleEconomic Europe is paying the price for political Europe
Remember what European Monetary Union was supposed to do? It was going to add zillions to Europe's GDP, they said. According to the Lisbon development plan, by 2010, the EU was going to be "the most...
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