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Sarko & Tony's Love-In
France's centre-right presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been invited for lunch with British prime minister Tony Blair at No 10 Downing Street.
This was Monsieur Sarkoky's first foreign trip as an official presidential nominee. In contrast to his socialist presidential rival, Ségolène Royal, who decided upon Lebanon and China, Sarkozy went to London.
Tony Blair may be very unpopular in the eyes of many domestic and foreign observers. But he is no fool. As an astute politician, he knows a winner when he sees one. He and Sarkozy are reported to see eye-to-eye on numerous issues, not least their warmth towards the United States. Blair hopes a Sarkozy presidency would smooth relations between Paris, Brussels and Washington: Mme Royal, by way of contrast, has stated that she will not meet with President Bush before the elections, though she has had no difficulty meeting China's leadership and members of the extremist Hezbollah organisation.
Blair and Royal, both nominally Socialists, are supposed to be aligned (their parties sit together in the European Parliament, though it is fair to say that New Labour and the French PS reside on opposite ends of the European Socialist grouping's benches). However, the British leader is probably closer to Sarkozy and few in Blair's circle would welcome a Royal presidency.
After a tete-a-tete meeting, Sarkozy was fulsome in complimenting the "ideas and actions" of the British head of government. He said to British, French and American correspondents: "I admire Tony Blair's openness and pragmatism". He added: "There is great confidence between Tony Blair and me, and trust".
Sarkozy and Blair are said to be friends, and have met several times on holiday. They converse in French - despite Sarkozy's reported Anglophilia, his English is reportedly poor.
While in London, Sarkozy had meetings with leaders of some of the over 300,000 French citizens who live in Britain, mainly in London. Known to some wags as "The Free French", the London French make the British capital the sixth largest French city. Many moved away from their home country to start businesses or to take their chances in London's dynamic financial centre, where salaries can be multiples of what is offered back home in France (taxes are lower, too). Sarkozy spoke to 2000 French expats at a rally yesterday (many more were turned away when the hall was filled), telling them that if he wins the presidency, he'd like them to return to France.
Sarkozy also visited a British job centre. British job centres and benefits agencies are run by the same social services: In France, the Assedic, which pays benefits and the ANPE, which is supposed to help jobseekers find work or training, are separate agencies.
As an adjunct, French president Jacques Chirac commanded France's minister of defence, Michele Alliot-Marie to not acompany Sarkozy to the capital of Britain.
A spokesman said, in uncertain terms: "It is no business for the defence minister to be travelling abroad". (He forgot to add, with Sarkozy).
