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| Europe |
| Hope for France? |
| 2003-06-27 |
| This is the second time Sabine's graced Rantburg. Hope we see... ummm... more of her... Sabine Herold, 21, has been called France's answer to Margaret Thatcher. She is a political science student, very beautiful and speaks perfect English. She has also just become the most famous 21-year-old in France. Dubbed France's Lady Thatcher by the newspapers, Mademoiselle Herold has been leading the rallies against the unions who have been crippling her country. Standing on a telephone box in her pearl earrings and high heels, she addresses crowds of 80,000, urging them to rise up against the striking teachers, Metro workers, rubbish collectors and air traffic controllers who are ruining people's lives. With her student friends, she has set up an organisation: Liberte J'Ecris Ton Nom, which has thousands of members, demanding that France reforms. Now, she wants to come to Britain. Her email is simple: "I would like to spend my time meeting politicians. I don't wear jeans; I like red meat; please could I bring a camera crew?" Here, she has been called Joan of Arc. "That is stupid," she says. "I love Britain. I love Margaret Thatcher. I love the way you have overcome the unions and are not afraid to privatise. I love the way you work so hard. In France, we have become lazy and staid. We think only of weekends, holidays and how great we once were. We need a dose of Thatcherism." She doesn't want to go to Wimbledon. "No, I am here to work. Margaret Thatcher lived on five hours' sleep; so can I." She has been to Britain before - as an exchange student in Birmingham for a year, where she earned extra money as a "dinner lady" in a canteen. Was the food awful? "No - in France, our supermarkets close at 6pm, so I never get there in time. In Birmingham, the supermarkets stayed open all night, and I cooked myself delicious suppers. My hobby is cooking five-course dinner parties to relax." She wants to go to Speakers' Corner. In one corner, a Christian is ranting against sex in public lavatories; in another, a Muslim is sounding off against the Iraq war. "In France," says Sabine, "we have no freedom of expression. Being different is frowned upon. Everyone must conform. I want to give power back to individuals." At supper, she meets three of the youngest high-flying Tory MPs: Boris Johnson, MP for Henley; David Cameron, MP for Witney; and George Osborne, MP for Tatton. She is smitten. They start talking about the 48-hour working week. "In France, it is 35 hours - ludicrous, no?" George Orwell's Animal Farm, she tells them, was the first political tract she ever read. "It blew me away. In France, communism is not a dirty word - many of the trade unions are openly communist. Being Right-wing and libertarian is considered dangerous." She asks them for advice on addressing crowds of 80,000. "After 10 minutes of shouting, I lose my voice," she says. They explain that they have never addressed rallies that large, and are more used to village fetes. "But you must," she says. "It is the most exciting thing in the world, getting up in front of a huge crowd. I have had a few threatening letters, and I have two student bodyguards, but it is worth it for the adrenalin." The next day, we go to the Palace of Westminster. We take the Jubilee line which, amazingly, is extremely prompt, clean and efficient. "In Paris, I never know whether I will get to my lectures on time. The crowds who joined our rallies are young, working people who have had enough of their lives being disrupted by workers who are just greedy for more money, more pensions and less work." We arrive at the paintings of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Waterloo. "It is a pity that France and England still fight," she says. "President Chirac was spineless over the war. I led a pro-war rally. I almost collapsed in shock when I heard he was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. It was Saddam Hussein's regime, not President Bush's, that was despicable. I adore France. I will never leave - I love my cafes too much - but that does not mean I hate Britain or America." She admires Mr Blair. "He was very brave in Iraq. But now he is starting to raise taxes, and that is very bad." Anji Hunter, Tony Blair's former aide, explains how to get the best out of the unions. Sabine agrees: "I am not anti-union, just anti the communist ones." The next day, her mother, who "wishes I'd keep my head down", rings to tell her that there has been a big article about her in Liberation, the Left-wing French newspaper. The French press are in a frenzy about her stay in London. Is she being a good ambassador for France? "Of course. It is because I love my country that I want to reform it." Every 10 minutes, another French cabinet minister is on the phone, asking her to lunch. She explains that, before her first demonstration, politicians were desperate to distance themselves from the student rabble. "Now that they see the rallies are attended by ordinary, fed-up people, rather than nutters, they are all saying they are my best friend - when I haven't even met them. But I think I will meet the Prime Minister." The stories in our newspapers fascinate her. "What is this anti-smacking law? What is wrong with a quick smack? I thought only the French liked these silly laws. She wants to go to a bookshop. We pass the pile of Harry Potters, but she heads straight for Wilkes and Burke: "Your great writers about freedom". She is surprised by the amount of books that are anti-American. "I thought it was just us. In France, we are taught in school about American imperialism, that all Americans are either fat or work in sweatshops." A French businessman who has offered to finance her group meets her for lunch. Businessmen, he says, are also sick of the unions, but unlike Sabine, they haven't got the guts to say so. She tells him that the unions have stopped protesting for the moment - "But they will be back this autumn after their long holidays, and we must be prepared." As we head for the Eurostar, she is wistful. "I would love to live here, but my place is in France. I want to make us great again." |
| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |