FRENCH ELECTIONS

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

She is not only a good looker, she is extremely astute, also. A fine politician with great foresight.

[Alf Bentley]

Here's another continental pin-up whose looks and politics should appeal to you lads. 

 

 

[Manwell Pablo]

18 hours ago, Dr The Singh said:

I could never vote for someone called Emanuel, reminds me too much of the 80's soft porn series

 

 

surely even if it actually was Emanuel from the 80s soft porn series it'd be better than marine le pen  

[Foxxed]

From my brief understanding, Macron will hammer us in Brexit negotiations.

 

Le Pen will ride on immigration fear. Trump has come out in support. And she's attempting to balance the leave EU but stay in the Single market line - but I've heard that before.

 

I wouldn't bet against Le Pen.

[Webbo]

23 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

From my brief understanding, Macron will hammer us in Brexit negotiations.

 

Le Pen will ride on immigration fear. Trump has come out in support. And she's attempting to balance the leave EU but stay in the Single market line - but I've heard that before.

 

I wouldn't bet against Le Pen.

Obviously your experience of living in France means you know what's going on better than the rest of us, but I'd expect Machron to be in the high 50s %.

[Guest MattP]

Le Pen has almost no chance of winning this, the French system is designed to extremes from the fringes from holding these positions. She needs to make the whole election the establishment v the poor, then hope that a lot of the left along with pretty much all of Fillon's vote comes over to her, it's a 50/1 shot for me.

 

It will change France forever though, unlike the rest of Europe the right wing vote is more young than old there, they will probably be around in French politics for the rest of our lives.

 

Here it appears to have taken one EU referendum to absolutely kill it off.

 

 

[purpleronnie]

2 hours ago, Foxxed said:

From my brief understanding, Macron will hammer us in Brexit negotiations.

 

Le Pen will ride on immigration fear. Trump has come out in support. And she's attempting to balance the leave EU but stay in the Single market line - but I've heard that before.

 

I wouldn't bet against Le Pen.

I would, take my bet?

[Guest]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39696861

 

Le Pen 'Steps Aside'

 

Interested to see exactly how this pans out

 

Quote

Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has announced that she will step down as leader of her National Front (FN) party.

The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French election, where she will face Centrist Emmanuel Macron.

"This evening I decided to take my leave of the presidency of the National Front," she told TV channel France 2.

"I will be above partisan considerations."

It is not clear if her decision will be permanent.

 

[DJ Barry Hammond]

2 hours ago, MattP said:

Le Pen has almost no chance of winning this, the French system is designed to extremes from the fringes from holding these positions. She needs to make the whole election the establishment v the poor, then hope that a lot of the left along with pretty much all of Fillon's vote comes over to her, it's a 50/1 shot for me.

 

It will change France forever though, unlike the rest of Europe the right wing vote is more young than old there, they will probably be around in French politics for the rest of our lives.

 

Here it appears to have taken one EU referendum to absolutely kill it off.

 

 

 

This assumes the people who voted in the first round for another candidate are motivated to go out and vote again in the run off and this is possibly where Macron is more vulnerable than Le Pen? 

 

Whatever happens, given the base that Le Pen has come from over time, it's clear she isn't going to drift away from the French political scene anytime soon, so in some respects maybe it'd be just as well If she wins now? Defeat probably only delays the inevitable and a win now would make it very interesting in political terms.

[Foxxed]

2 hours ago, Webbo said:

Obviously your experience of living in France means you know what's going on better than the rest of us, but I'd expect Machron to be in the high 50s %.

Your obsession with this is sweet. Is it because I'm anti leaving the Single Market that I am therefore a forren? Maybe we could go on holiday to France together Webbo! I hear Nice is nice.

[Foxxed]

I hear she's now standing as an independent rather than a National Front candidate.

 

I'm hearing this is because she's now realised she resonsible for their overdraft as a leader.

 

 

 

[Foxxed]

32 minutes ago, purpleronnie said:

I would, take my bet?

No...

[Webbo]

21 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

Your obsession with this is sweet. Is it because I'm anti leaving the Single Market that I am therefore a forren? Maybe we could go on holiday to France together Webbo! I hear Nice is nice.

You're either fif or moose and moosey never ever repped me, I don't think he ever repped anyone. My instinct says you're fif.

[Wymsey]

Just now, Webbo said:

You're either fif or moose and moosey never ever repped me, I don't think he ever repped anyone. My instinct says you're fif.

Isn't Fif from France anyway?

Think he used to have the country written under his profile picture after posting iirc.

Ironically have never seen Fif post for a while.

 

[Webbo]

Just now, Wymeswold fox said:

Isn't Fif from France anyway?

Think he used to have the country written under his profile picture after posting iirc.

Ironically have never seen Fif post for a while.

 

Lives in France, used to go to the same school as me. I didn't know him. I think he was a few years above me.

[bovril]

Moosey repped me once. Only once. Was one of the best days of my life, I even remember the post.

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, bovril said:

Moosey repped me once. Only once. Was one of the best days of my life, I even remember the post.

I hope you've printed it out and framed it!

[Thracian]

Bright move by LePen to stand as an Independent. She'll do well despite all the assumptions about Macron. Strikes me that France needs to get her identity back and that won't happen under Macro who will likely be sucked into the unyielding whirlpool of Junckerisation.      

[DJ Barry Hammond]

 

So Moose is actually Le Pen?

[Alf Bentley]

Some interesting maps and analysis of which voters and areas went for Macron and which for Le Pen:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/macron-won-first-round-french-election-will-facele-pen-second/

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-french-election-maps/

 

Very, very similar to the division between Leave and Remain areas in the Brexit referendum (and with East/West Coasts v. Rust Belt for Trump in USA):

- For Macron: Paris (massively, like London for Remain), other large prosperous cities (Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes), regions of the West where economy is doing well, Celtic fringe (Brittany)

- For Le Pen: Mainly working-class regions where heavy industry has gone/declined (North, Lorraine), areas of high unemployment & social problems (Marseille & South), areas with fewer qualifications & less modern industry

 

Whichever country you look at - UK, USA, France - there are massive divisions within each nation, which are reflected in national politics: contentment/complacency/liberal internationalism v. discontent/anger/despair/protectionist nationalism

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

20 hours ago, Thracian said:

Bright move by LePen to stand as an Independent. She'll do well despite all the assumptions about Macron. Strikes me that France needs to get her identity back and that won't happen under Macro who will likely be sucked into the unyielding whirlpool of Junckerisation.      

Well said, and spot on Thrac.

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Thracian said:

Bright move by LePen to stand as an Independent. She'll do well despite all the assumptions about Macron. Strikes me that France needs to get her identity back and that won't happen under Macro who will likely be sucked into the unyielding whirlpool of Junckerisation.      

Never sure what this means. Need to get their identity back? Why? Same with Brexit. What's wrong with a European identity?

[Webbo]

10 minutes ago, toddybad said:

Never sure what this means. Need to get their identity back? Why? Same with Brexit. What's wrong with a European identity?

Because that's not what they want and what's wrong with that?

[Thracian]

1 hour ago, toddybad said:

Never sure what this means. Need to get their identity back? Why? Same with Brexit. What's wrong with a European identity?

 

Perhaps the best illustration of identity is the way our own High Streets and out of town shopping centres have come to feature so many of the same stores as everywhere else, the same lines of charity shops, the same annoying bus lanes, the same predominance of supermarkets, the same growing cafe culture. 

 

If everywhere has the same mix of shops, people, culture, rules, systems, currency etc there's less individual evolution, less local initiative, less difference in one place or another and less of a reason to visit places. It takes time but that's the way it trends. 

 

Take multiculturalism for instance. There has always been examples of natural, virtually seamless, multiculturalism throughout history, but mass multiculturalism ends up similarising everywhere in the end and familiarity breeds contempt in terms of the excitement involved in travelling while also creating countless problems that hardly existed at all in the past, particularly relating to regulations, pressure on heath, housing, education, policing, social services and much more.

 

Some places end up with too many workers, others with too few, both of which create more problems and in the end, are far from harmonious in the country the people have moved to or the country they've left,  There's no unity left anywhere. Just simmering resentments.  

 

Look at the Europe you champion. Has the ever been more disruption and disharmony outside of world wars - or the need for more security on our streets, on our computers and on the quiet. Or the ever greater constraints on the media, some clearly designed to help keep the increasingly fragile peace? 

 

"European" identity? Where is it?. Communities are as split all over mainland Europe as they are here. The European involvement we wanted involved trade, simple as that. What we got was contrived federalism effected by deceit. And the mess created is increasingly appalling.

 

The UK is split and has been since way before Brexit which has only highlighted the differences.

 

France, Germany, Holland, Sweden are all in various stages of disharmony, there are crises in Portugal, Greece, Italy, concerns in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Austria and doubtless other places  I'm not so familiar with, or have you really never noticed the truth of these things?

 

I'm not European and never will be. I come from Leicestershire. I'm English. Why do I need to be European along with all the residents of the many other countries so manipulatively ganged together?

 

I've never been a gang person. I don't think gangs think clearly in general and certainly don't think the EU gang in Brussels has thought clearly except for itself - and as an increasingly dogmatic concept. Very soon will come the breaking points I've long anticipated. 

 

               

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Thracian said:

 

Perhaps the best illustration of identity is the way our own High Streets and out of town shopping centres have come to feature so many of the same stores as everywhere else, the same lines of charity shops, the same annoying bus lanes, the same predominance of supermarkets, the same growing cafe culture. 

 

If everywhere has the same mix of shops, people, culture, rules, systems, currency etc there's less individual evolution, less local initiative, less difference in one place or another and less of a reason to visit places. It takes time but that's the way it trends. 

 

Take multiculturalism for instance. There has always been examples of natural, virtually seamless, multiculturalism throughout history, but mass multiculturalism ends up similarising everywhere in the end and familiarity breeds contempt in terms of the excitement involved in travelling while also creating countless problems that hardly existed at all in the past, particularly relating to regulations, pressure on heath, housing, education, policing, social services and much more.

 

Some places end up with too many workers, others with too few, both of which create more problems and in the end, are far from harmonious in the country the people have moved to or the country they've left,  There's no unity left anywhere. Just simmering resentments.  

 

Look at the Europe you champion. Has the ever been more disruption and disharmony outside of world wars - or the need for more security on our streets, on our computers and on the quiet. Or the ever greater constraints on the media, some clearly designed to help keep the increasingly fragile peace? 

 

"European" identity? Where is it?. Communities are as split all over mainland Europe as they are here. The European involvement we wanted involved trade, simple as that. What we got was contrived federalism effected by deceit. And the mess created is increasingly appalling.

 

The UK is split and has been since way before Brexit which has only highlighted the differences.

 

France, Germany, Holland, Sweden are all in various stages of disharmony, there are crises in Portugal, Greece, Italy, concerns in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Austria and doubtless other places  I'm not so familiar with, or have you really never noticed the truth of these things?

 

I'm not European and never will be. I come from Leicestershire. I'm English. Why do I need to be European along with all the residents of the many other countries so manipulatively ganged together?

 

I've never been a gang person. I don't think gangs think clearly in general and certainly don't think the EU gang in Brussels has thought clearly except for itself - and as an increasingly dogmatic concept. Very soon will come the breaking points I've long anticipated. 

 

               

None of that seems to have anything to do with bringing back a British or French or German etc identity. Every city looks the same in the uk because of the uk, not Europe. You're blaming the wrong institution.