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France: Nicolas Sarkozy goes to London
Nicolas Sarkozy’s first foreign excursion since his designation as official presidential candidate of France’s ruling Gaullist UMP (Union for a People’s Movement) was a trip to London. He spent January 30 visiting the Marylebone Jobcentre Plus, lunching with Prime Minister Tony Blair and addressing an election rally organised by the London branch of the UMP, which attracted 2,000 French expatriates.
The first round of the French presidential elections will be held April 22.
The Guardian newspaper noted: “Mr Sarkozy’s choice of London for his first foreign trip since launching his presidential campaign is seen as deeply symbolic. He is keen to present himself as an international statesman, a friend of Mr. Blair and close to the US-British alliance.”
Sarkozy is reported to have met Blair for discussions on no less than eight occasions. Their personal friendship is underlined by unofficial meetings, “including while on holiday in Florence and during Sarkozy’s trip to London to celebrate his reconciliation with his wife Cecilia.”
When Blair’s wife goes to Paris, she has dinner at the ministry of the interior Sarkozy presides over.
The London visit, and particularly the rally at the end of day, provides a snapshot of Sarkozy’s social base. There are 60,000 registered voters among the big French expatriate community in Britain (some 300,000), mainly living in London and the prosperous southeast. Many of them are drawn by the low taxes and deregulated economy stripped of labour and social rights, where the business of accumulating wealth is untrammelled. The January 30 Guardian editorial comments, “The expatriate [French] community in Britain is one of the biggest outside France. Whizz-kid bankers and businessmen fleeing a homeland in a state of political (and entrepreneurial) torpor are natural voters for the man who has promised to break the mould of French politics.”
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/sark-f05.shtml
The Guardian newspaper noted: “Mr Sarkozy’s choice of London for his first foreign trip since launching his presidential campaign is seen as deeply symbolic. He is keen to present himself as an international statesman, a friend of Mr. Blair and close to the US-British alliance.”
Sarkozy is reported to have met Blair for discussions on no less than eight occasions. Their personal friendship is underlined by unofficial meetings, “including while on holiday in Florence and during Sarkozy’s trip to London to celebrate his reconciliation with his wife Cecilia.”
When Blair’s wife goes to Paris, she has dinner at the ministry of the interior Sarkozy presides over.
The London visit, and particularly the rally at the end of day, provides a snapshot of Sarkozy’s social base. There are 60,000 registered voters among the big French expatriate community in Britain (some 300,000), mainly living in London and the prosperous southeast. Many of them are drawn by the low taxes and deregulated economy stripped of labour and social rights, where the business of accumulating wealth is untrammelled. The January 30 Guardian editorial comments, “The expatriate [French] community in Britain is one of the biggest outside France. Whizz-kid bankers and businessmen fleeing a homeland in a state of political (and entrepreneurial) torpor are natural voters for the man who has promised to break the mould of French politics.”
More
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/sark-f05.shtml
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