Friday 9 September 2016

Selfish Interests

President Charles de Gaulle (means "of France"!") said France doesn't have policies, only interests. When an Englishman on the radio recently said Britain shouldn't take any more refugees he was told by Mahmood that he was selfish. But Mahmood too was being selfish. Immigration increases his political clout, and it is obviously more fun to occupy than to be occupied. And maybe he wants revenge for Britain's past imperial endeavours. De Gaulle emphatically said "Non!" when the UK applied to join the Common Market. That may have been for selfish reasons. But he didn't like the British. (Strange that he liked the Americans even less.) Now that the UK has voted to leave the European Union it would be a surprise if any Frenchman likes us.