The Spanish Ambassador's Suitcase by Matthew Parris & Matthew Parris & Andrew Bryson

Author:Matthew Parris & Matthew Parris & Andrew Bryson [Parris, Matthew and Bryson, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241957097
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2012-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

PART IV: EUROPE

France

‘Images of Britain as a Victorian sweatshop economy and haven for Islamic terrorists die hard’

SIR JOHN HOLMES, HM AMBASSADOR TO THE

FRENCH REPUBLIC, OCTOBER 2001

FM PARIS

TO PRIORITY FCO

SUBJECT: FRANCE: FIRST/SECOND IMPRESSIONS

A couple of months in Paris is as good a time as any to attempt a few impressions – second more than first in my case since I spent four years in Paris in the mid-1980s … My strongest impression this time is one of continuity. The place feels the same, as does the administration/bureaucracy. France seems to have changed less than its big European neighbours, particularly Britain. The main political contenders for the forthcoming Presidential election were at the top of politics 15 years ago too. The shift of generation evident in Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and elsewhere has not so far operated here. This frustrates the younger politicians, insofar as any of stature have been allowed to develop, and bores the voters …

The political/intellectual climate has not apparently changed much either. Much of it is still dominated by a peculiarly French view of the world, where shades of anti-capitalism, anti-Americanism and anti-globalisation remain fashionable, or at least politically correct …

Not an original insight, maybe, but I am still struck by how conservative France remains. The attitude of what you have, you protect remains fundamental for many. Keeping existing jobs has greater priority than creating new ones. Acquired rights are almost sacred. Innovation is to be resisted, not embraced. The attachment to la France profonde continues to give French farmers clout far beyond their economic weight …

We wonder why the French don’t seem to suffer more for apparently flouting today’s economic rules. Maybe one day they will. The 35-hour week’s1 daftness is bound to show through sometime. It may be that the French only get away with present policies now because of the country’s other advantages, including hugely improved infrastructure and a formidably clever and effective administrative (as opposed to political) class – and because the rigidity of the country’s labour and tax laws is matched only by the ingenuity of companies in getting round them …

Meanwhile the big change I do notice is in attitudes to Britain. Rivalry and stereotyping have not gone away. Images of Britain as a Victorian sweatshop economy and haven for Islamic terrorists die hard. Infrastructure and health service comparisons favourable to France are two a penny. Snide comments sprinkle the pages. (Nothing as vitriolic as the British press about the French of course.)

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