The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

How Cameron and Miliband greeted Hollande

The PM has lost an ally, while the Labour leader has gained one.

By George Eaton Published 07 May 2012 9:32

Ed Miliband with French President-elect François Hollande in Westminster earlier this year. Photograph: Getty Images.

In his congratulatory message to François Hollande, Ed Miliband said the words that David Cameron could not: "I know from our conversations in London earlier this year". When the French President-elect (as we can now call him) campaigned in the capital in February, Cameron, having explicitly endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy, chose not to meet him. Miliband, by contrast, had lunch with Hollande in Westminster.

Some are now suggesting that Cameron's refusal to meet the Socialist will curse their relationship (see Douglas Alexander's tweet, below). Comparisons are being made with Bill Clinton and John Major, whom the US President never forgave for seconding Conservative Central Office staff to George Bush Snr's re-election campaign. As I wrote yesterday, however, such talk shouldn't be overdone. The Hollande camp briefed that it wasn't in their candidate's interests to be seen with a British Conservative and that they "understood" Cameron's support for Sarkozy.

Wonder if David Cameron still thinks it was wise to be too busy to meet Francois Hollande when he visited London recently. #Omnishambles

— Douglas Alexander (@DAlexanderMP) May 6, 2012

Yet the point remains that Cameron has lost an ally, while Miliband has gained one. In his message to Hollande, Miliband said the new President would help Europe to "escape from austerity" and that he had shown that "the centre-left can offer hope and win elections with a vision of a better, more equal and just world". (One might add that Hollande has also shown that an allegedly uncharismatic social democrat can triumph against a flashier opponent.) The Tories are doing their best to spin the line that Hollande is not "anti-austerity" (he has pledged to eliminate France's deficit by 2017, just a year later than Sarkozy did) but they cannot ignore his support for fiscal stimulus and a more balanced approach to deficit reduction. Like Miliband and Ed Balls, he believes that Europe is going "too far, too fast".

From the sound of it, Cameron's welcome to Hollande was far blander than Miliband's. "The Prime Minister called President-Elect Hollande this evening and congratulated him on his victory," said a Downing Street spokesman. "They both look forward to working very closely together in the future and building on the very close relationship that already exists between the UK and France".

Whether or not the election of Hollande proves a help or a hindrance to Miliband will largely depend on the effect of his policies on the French economy (including a new 75 per cent rate of income tax) and whether he succeeds in re-negotiating the EU's fiscal compact to include pro-growth measures. Hollande's aides have said that he has "45 days" to achieve the latter aim. The quiet hope among the Tories is that France's economy will nosedive, providing them with a model of what would happen to the UK were voters careless enough to hand Miliband the keys to No. 10.

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Tags: French presidential election François Hollande Nicolas Sarkozy David Cameron

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19 comments

Mon, 2012-08-13 17:33 — Strange (not verified)

Surely they already have a model of a nosediving economy, our own.
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But never mind that, what if it goes well? and let's face it they should be wanting the Euro to recover as it is what they are blaming the double dip on. Do the Tories have any idea what they want or what they are saying at any given moment?

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Tue, 2012-05-08 04:43 — mbrecker (not verified)

Before you have another go at everything French, consider this fact. As far as I know, France still has one of the best health care systems in the world. I'm not sure about Milliband being able to stop austerity cuts. However, at least he's smart enough to realize that these aren't the way to fix the economy.

Do you really want to do away with the NHS? How many would willingly go to a US system of either you pay or you literally die or go bankrupt?
How many of the current benefits in the workplace do people enjoy thanks to unions?
Many Tories say dump Cameron. Right. If you did that, who would you replace him with?
How big is the UK debt/GDP ratio?

Finally, if having a Socialist President is so bad, then why do so many Brits live in France? You can't have it both ways.

Tue, 2012-05-08 03:53 — Speak truth to power (not verified)

Let us not forget the racism, and the overwhelming contempt for ordinary Frenchmen, which Sarkozy proclaimed and Cameron endorsed. Two of a kind.

Mon, 2012-05-07 21:11 — Henrik (not verified)

Yeah, it is fun to be paranoid.

Mon, 2012-05-07 18:02 — Sam2012 (not verified)

If I was a Conservative I'd be hoping that he succeeds in changing the Eurozone's punishing austerity pact. I'm not in favour of the coalition's economic plans but they're not that much different to Darling's and we'd probably be close to or in recession if we were following Darling because the drag on the British economy is the Eurozone. It's a massive task to persuade Germany to back the Eurozone financially but if Hollande does it then that will help our economy massively. If he doesn't, and also makes the French economy worse then that won't help the Conservatives at all because it will keep our economy either in recession or stagnant growth - a mixture of the two probably throughout the next few years probably.

Ironically if Hollande ditches some of the stupider stuff he wants to do and succeeds in getting more growth in the Eurozone he could play a big role in getting the Tories a majority in 2015.

I have to say I think it's unlikely that he'll get anything much more than token gestures from Merkel so the Eurozone problems will be going on for a while yet, hindering our own recovery.

Mon, 2012-05-07 14:23 — hugh markey (not verified)

Heard some billionaire trust fund investment managers on BBC radio claiming the French and Greek electorate expect a free lunch which the international financial markets are totally opposed to giving them.
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Mon, 2012-05-07 12:44 — Benjamin Rae (not verified)

'Oh there's no alternative to neo liberal small state economics'. Of course there is. A little fairness can go a long way. Piece of nonsense that the people getting clobbered are those who can't afford it. The tide seems to be turning and not before time. Got to love the French sometimes

Mon, 2012-05-07 11:35 — rain (not verified)

Isn't there just one small problem with Hollande's programme for “growth not austerity” who is going to lend, stiflingly bureaucratic, highly taxed, already grotesquely indebted and stagnating Europe the money to carry-on living beyond its means? China will buy Europe's industries and brand names. But China will be slightly inclined [not] to pay European pensions and health-care costs!!

Mon, 2012-05-07 10:28 — Agent (not verified)

"The quiet hope among the Tories is that France's economy will nosedive, providing them with a model..."

Surely they already have a model of a nosediving economy, our own.

But never mind that, what if it goes well? and let's face it they should be wanting the Euro to recover as it is what they are blaming the double dip on. Do the Tories have any idea what they want or what they are saying at any given moment?