Britain, the arch-Eurosceptic member of the Union? Think again. France is now more committed to loathing the European Union than Perfidious Albion: it has indeed become the new stronghold of Euroscepticism. Last week, the EU election results were like none other before. For the first time since the end of the second world war, an extreme rightwing party topped a national poll.
Do not be fooled by Marine Le Pen's down-to-earth demeanour. She may dispense with her father's antisemitic puns or Islamophobic tirades, but under her leadership the Front National remains an extreme rightwing party; the party which was launched by Marshall Pétain's apologists and French Algeria supporters in 1972.
Continue reading...