Europe’s voting for the right just as we're turning left!

Will countries continue to not just work on, but strengthen collaboration on catching people smugglers, or just push migrants onto the next country?

Will they still support NATO and Ukraine?

If you read Le Pens views you can see just how much doubt ? on these issues.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Marine_Le_Pen

I suspect that some Europeans are pissed off with the state of their own countries' affairs and saw yesterday's vote as a way of giving their own govt's a good kicking.

Le Pen family have been going since the 80s. I remember seeing signs for them when going to France camping. This is just an aside as I haven’t read the thread.

Europe moving to the right is disturbing to say the least.

You do wonder about the thinking behind the vote for the hard right.

We’ve just finished celebrating the destruction of the most evil regime the world has ever seen - and yet……!?

I simply do not understand it.

Memories are short and there are few alive today that actually lived through it. They don’t teach it much in schools, the younger generation have,literally, no idea. Frightening for us who were raised with veterans and saw bomb sites etc. You can’t tell them anything.

MaizieD

Galaxy

Yep no surprise there. This is a failure of the left. I am not sure how many times this is going to happen before they realise.
What I cant work out as my knowledge of French politics isnt extensive, is Macron being brave or foolish? Joseann?

How is it the failure of the left?

I think it's the failure of the economic orthodoxy that has prevailed for nearly the last 50 years. It has favoured capitalism, even in slightly left wing countries, which promotes the myth of 'trickle down' even as the wealthy become visibly more and more wealthy and the rest of the population gets 'left behind' in ever increasing numbers.

When the left tries to address this, albeit less than radically, the right has raised the spectre of communism to great effect.

Extraordinarily the far right populist parties are bankrolled by the wealthy. This has to be because they know they won't be affected by measures proposed by the populists.

I think you are completely correct in this MaizieD.

I do not consider the present Labour Party left wing, and they show no evidence that they will become so after the election.

I don’t think they will have landslide win either and may even struggle to have a majority. Consider the ascendancy of Farage and Reform U.K. Right wing politics are not confined to our European neighbours.

Germany has big problems with immigration, however I don’t think for a minute it will be like it was in the thirties. What is needed is to set limits and those that do come to swear allegiance to that country, learn the language and pledge to work before become a citizen.

nanna8

Memories are short and there are few alive today that actually lived through it. They don’t teach it much in schools, the younger generation have,literally, no idea. Frightening for us who were raised with veterans and saw bomb sites etc. You can’t tell them anything.

That's all very well, nanna8, but Reform, our furthest right party, is getting votes from our generation.

We had the hints in the tory government of the past few years, clamping down on protest, imposition of voter ID to manipulate who is able to vote, transfer of powers from parliament to the government (which are definitely not the same thing), 'othering' a section of humanity, e,g immigrants and benefit claimants, disregard of international law...

Most of which has been applauded by some on here...

Polling has been putting the under 55s as mostly supporting Labour, not the far right...

I think we are talking at cross purposes here. I wasn’t particularly thinking of Farage and the right, more the ignorance of the young ones about the past. Probably different over there but here it is not even taught in schools.

ayse

Le Pen family have been going since the 80s. I remember seeing signs for them when going to France camping. This is just an aside as I haven’t read the thread.

Europe moving to the right is disturbing to say the least.

Can't stop, I'm rather busy, see photo!
Marine's father was born in Brittany and studied at the school where I later taught (Vannes).
Brittany votes for the far right were actually low in comparison yesterday, but this is a region less affected by immigration. Marine often canvasses in the area and attracts the support of those in the fishing industry.
Back for the nitty gritty later.

Hiraeth

I live in Germany . It’s a lot to do with our coalition . Our Democracy is in danger 🙈

In what way did things disappoint? Does the coalition not work now Hiraeth?

vegansrock

People do realise that Macron is not standing for election, that he will remain president till 2027, when he will have served 2 terms, which is the maximum. He can overrule the French parliament anyway, so it s a bit of posturing.

Whatever happens, Macron won't be out of a job. Unlike Rishi Sunak.

Graphics of result.

The hyperbole of a right takeover wrong.

The centre holds

Urmstongran

Hiraeth

I live in Germany . It’s a lot to do with our coalition . Our Democracy is in danger 🙈

In what way did things disappoint? Does the coalition not work now Hiraeth?

Its far beyond "disappointing", its dangerous to all of us who are close to memories of WW2.

Demonstrations against the far right in Germany: make no mistake, the German far right is not a Farage or a Le Pen: it's a return to a shady past.

"The AfD was expelled from a far-right group within the European Parliament after its top candidate Maximilian Krah made comments minimising the crimes of the Nazis' SS guards."

"AfD made headlines in January when it became known that its members held secret meetings with German and Austrian far-right figures, including the neo-Nazi leader of the Identitarian movement Martin Sellner"

www.thelocal.de/20240608/in-pictures-tens-of-thousands-join-election-rally-against-german-far-right

www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/05/28/why-is-german-youth-so-easily-seduced-by-afds-ideas#:~:text=It%20could%20also%20help%20integrate,parties%20such%20as%20the%20AfD.

Whitewavemark2

Graphics of result.

The hyperbole of a right takeover wrong.

The centre holds

Thank you for that WWM - I hope this continues, as I've said above we need co-operation to continue in Nato, to have strong combined forces against people smugglers.

You misunderstand me again Wyllow3.
I was asking Hiraeth in what way was the German political coalition a disappointment.
She had brought it up you see.
I didn’t need a history lesson.

Sorry if it came across wrong, Urms it was a good question for Hiraeth

I am very concerned. for Ukraine as well as other matters I've raised, for many of the far right parties don't support them, or even NATO, as we have and continue to do.

Apology accepted Wyllow3 😁

Hi UrmstongranObviously Migration plays a major role in peoples fears and the bickering in the coalition causes dissatisfaction .

Wyllow3

Will countries continue to not just work on, but strengthen collaboration on catching people smugglers, or just push migrants onto the next country?

Will they still support NATO and Ukraine?

If you read Le Pens views you can see just how much doubt ? on these issues.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Marine_Le_Pen

We signed a deal with the eu agency, Frontex in February.
There’s a lot of good stuff happening between us and the eu.

If we were still in the EU we’d have some sort of control over this swing to the far right wouldn’t we? As it is we have no say in it even though it will affect us.

Thanks for your reply Hiraeth.
Bickering but no consensus = frustration and annoyance I suppose.

Joseann for you -

“It was the historian and thoughtful biographer of many Third, Fourth and Fifth Republic politicians, Maxime Tandonnet, who put it best: “I don’t believe the theory where Emmanuel Macron gifts the PM job to the National Rally three weeks from now, intending them to crash and burn. His massive hubris simply wouldn’t have it. I think we’re witnessing an authentic shipwreck: total disconnection caused by wilful narcissistic blindness. He is still convinced he can win.”

It will be interesting to hear what your friends over there are thinking about this.

From the Telegraph:

“ Macron, a technocrat who’d never run for any elected office before he entered the Élysée aged 39, is no Mitterrand, a wily old bird with encyclopaedic knowledge of the French grassroots and a sense of timing and triangulation defying Euclidean geometry.

No wonder that Renaissance’s foot soldiers, who during their time in Parliament were treated like low-ranking employees by their mercurial boss, are furious and, for the first time in their political lives, have started criticising their boss, too late. Nobody in France, in fact, is happy today, except Marine Le Pen, looking like one of her dozen Bengal cats that got the cream, and waiting smilingly for her next job in a couple of years.”

Joseann
Emmanuel Macron’s gamble will not pay off
ANNE-ELISABETH MOUTET
(writes for The Telegraph - excerpt above).