I know, politics is boring and I don’t know anything about it, but in a week dominated by strike action in France and the budget review in the UK I can’t ignore it completely. I think the most interesting thing about the situations in France and the UK at the moment is surely the way the respective populations are reacting to similar news….
In France the proposal to raise the retirement age by a couple of years has led to blocades, protests and rioting followed by the country grinding to a halt as petrol runs out, trains are cancelled and rubbish remains uncollected in some cities.
Meanwhile in the UK the news that 490,000 jobs will be lost, and the retirement age increased sooner than expected, appeared to generate a few grumbles but little else.
I can’t begin to imagine the level of strikes and demonstrations we would see in France if that level of job losses was on the cards – although France is said to have three times as many government employees as the UK. It is also said that more than 50% of the population of France support the current widespread strike action against their own changes.
It is easy for Brits to say that the French aren’t accepting the reality – that living longer inevitably means working longer. Likewise a French person might be baffled be the resigned acceptance in Britain that what the State says must be right and there’s no point protesting about it.
Assuming there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but rather a ‘difference of opinion’ I wonder how two countries so geographically close can react so differently. When the BBC interviewed various people in France about the situation the responses were mixed (see here), including someone who said:
‘English people might say nothing but the French always will go to the street to say it. And sometimes I think all the European countries are looking at France and thinking that we say the things that they don’t in their own countries‘.
Do people in the UK really wish they could take to the streets and show their discontent? Or would most French really prefer just to get on quietly with their jobs? Similarly in a local newspaper here someone said:
‘we voted in Sarkozy to make changes but not so many changes, or so fast‘
I found this surprising since I thought changes seemed a bit slow coming…is it that the French are more resistant to change? Or simply more willing to fight for what they believe? Someone (French) told me yesterday he thought the French were very naive when it came to matters of government finance, but I don’t really understand why the average French person ‘in the street’ would know any more or less about state finances than the average Brit.
Perhaps the French have the legacy of the Revolution at the back of their minds, while the Brits turn instead to the legacy of the Thatcher Years?
I’d love to hear any ideas or comments on how or why such differences have come about or insights into whether Brits would prefer to be taking to the streets. I’ll read them later when I get back from the the petrol station – word is that a tanker has been seen delivering diesel, so I can’t hang about now, it might be weeks before another one turns up…
Having lived in both Germany and France I noticed just how much more in these countries the government does for people ( I should say interfear).
Britain had started to go the same way under Labour with more and more interfearing in peoples lives.
But it is not as deep seated in Britain. Britain does not have as much natural resources as France or Germany and has had to rely more on trade and this has made us more outward looking.
I remember in germany you had to pass an exam before you could have a fishing licence.
The more civil servants you have the more people expect from their government. we also have a coalition in Britain and I do think most people know what has to be done.
You need to pass trade union laws that we have in Britain to curb the destructive power they have.
We know in Britain that it is the people that will solve the problems not the government. I do not think that same attitude is felt the F&D.
Its interesting that the cuts we are making over 5 years is about the same ammount we give to the EU over the same period. There is an easy answer for me.
The French may protest but they will achieve nothing. They are all bark no bite, They always have been and always will be.
But there is also a history of the protests in France stopping government action – didn’t that happen when Chirac tried to implement pension reforms? At the very least it must make Sarkozy ‘nervous’ about making further changes, which is some kind of achievement for the strikers. And I’m not sure that someone shouldn’t protest about something just because they think their protest is unlikely to change things.
Just playing devil’s advocate of course, I’m not saying I support the current strikes…I’m just trying to understand the thinking behind them.
I also see today that the unions in Britain are organising a day of protest – for next March!
hello everybody,
I am reading your article with a lot of interest and a big smile, because I am French, and it is surprising to see how you, as an expat, you watch France.
Your articles are really good and interesting, I am just starting to read (your derelict farmhouse, French educational system, language… very funny, I would have a lot of reactions, but I am still too bad in English to start arguing…!). Well, on the political topic, here is my point of view.
For me, the thing is not in a kind of national spirit, making English and French different, but rather in history.
I think Boris is completely right. There is a history of the protests in France stopping government action. Not going back to the 18th century of course, but I can give you here some examples (always on the topic of student or retirement!) when the French government gave the odd impression to be really weak in front of a national strike, by canceling the laws and even firing the Prime Minister! And several times…
1984: loi Savary sur l’école privée (changement de 1er ministre)
1986: loi Devaquet sur l’Université (démission du ministre)
1994: loi Falloux sur le salaire des étudiants (retrait de la loi)
1995: loi Juppé sur la réforme des retraites (démission du 1er ministre)
2005: émeutes de banlieue (apparition d’un 2nd 1er ministre…)
2006: Contrat 1ere Embauche (CPE) (quasi démission du 1er ministre)
2010: réforme des retraites (le 1er ministre devait changer alors que la reforme était encore en cours de discussion: c’est de la prévention?!)
With such a political balance sheet, a French man would be mad not protesting when his little comfort is in danger. It seems so easy to frighten the government (specially student organization and lorry trade-unions are strong in that game, because each time they enter in the game, the prime minister starts getting his bag ready!)
I don’t really know recent British history about strikes or social conflicts. My “Epinal picture” (stereotype) is the conflict between Ms Thatcher and the miners in the mid-80′s. Once reduced the power of the trade unions, people are less confident starting a trial of strength…
Hi Dominque, thanks for that informative comment! it was si onteresting I used it in a post at working in France.