The crisis is over. France does not yet have a state budget for this year but it will soon. The Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, was given little chance of survival, let alone finding a budget deal, when he was appointed for a second time in October. He... See more
Neville Chamberlain said in 1938 that there was no reason for British or French soldiers to die for Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany’s threat to seize Czech territory was “a quarrel in a faraway country by people of whom we know nothing”. Who is ready to die ... See more
All political careers end in failure but some failures are more prolonged than others. The long goodbye of Emmanuel Macron still has 17 months to run. He lost all control of parliament 18 month ago but will remain in office, not truly in power, until May ... See more
The most significant political event of 2026 will not be political but judicial – the second embezzlement trial of Marine Le Pen.
If Le Pen is acquitted (which is unlikely) or if her ban from electoral politics is suspended (which is just possible), she m... See more
A pastoral tragedy is playing out in France against a familiar background of tear-gas, motorway barricades and government buildings anointed with liquid cowshit. The cause is a new (to me anyway) animal affliction called Lumpy Skin Disease which has sprea... See more
