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Original poster

So when are we going to get a British Hollande?

41 replies

breadandbutterfly · 18/05/2012 20:08

The man has won an election coming up from behind, his first acts in office are to select loads of female ministers and to cut his own salary and those of his ministers by 30%. I like the cut of his jib.

Plus he has positive messages on growth.

He's best mates with Obama or about to be...

So can we have a leader in the UK who leads from the front with policies like these, please?

OP posts:
BiscuitNibbler · 18/05/2012 20:15

I don't really think you can judge the success of a politician after less than a week. Hmm

And he and Obama are never going to be best mates. The US are very anti French, and Obama wants to get re-elected.

Fenouille · 18/05/2012 20:43

Hmm He cut ministers' wages by 30% but increased the number of ministers by 30%. The man's an idiot and we've got enough of those in British politics already.

Itsjustafleshwound · 18/05/2012 21:02

Perhaps when another 40+% of the population gets off their arses and votes .... Smile

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 18/05/2012 23:12

No, you can't judge the success of a politician after less than a week - but you can say whether he has started travelling in the right direction...

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CogitoErgoSometimes · 19/05/2012 09:10

I heard that Hollande is promising to eliminate the French deficit inside a year. [[http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/17/french-president-francois-hollandes-first-order-of-business-cutting-his-own-salary/ This article] for example quotes him as saying "?We?re convinced public debt is an enemy for the country. Our task will be reduce deficits and debt ? this is the task we will address first.? Wasn't one of Cameron's first acts to cut and freeze ministers' salaries?

CogitoErgoSometimes · 19/05/2012 09:12

link

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 19/05/2012 15:03

Cameron cut pay by 5% - sme way off 30%. Plus David Cameron's efforts to increase the number of female ministers have been notable by their absence.

I'd love to see 50% of ministers = women in this country. But how long will it take? A century?

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Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 19/05/2012 15:10

Re your link, cogito - well, he would say that, wouldn't he. Hardly makes the man Cameron. You seem to have missed the all-important bits where he repeatedly goes on about growth - eg in the link you posted:

"Pierre Moscovici, France?s newly-appointed finance minister, set the tone, reiterating Hollande?s demand Berlin and other euro zone capitals rework a fiscal pact agreed in March, to add pro-growth measures alongside commitments to deficit reduction. "

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JosephineCD · 19/05/2012 19:02

I think Hollande will turn out to be a disaster for France.

gothicmama · 19/05/2012 19:29

He's yet another rich politician He will do no different to any of the others

grimbletart · 19/05/2012 19:55

I expect he will be like most politicians: say what is necessary to get elected and then be confronted by reality.......

CogitoErgoSometimes · 19/05/2012 20:00

Making popular gestures & statements is how they all get elected, that's my point. Everyone is for 'pro-growth measures' the same way everyone's for world peace. Achieving it is quite a different matter. Talking to French colleagues pre-election, they were all quite convinced that whoever was elected and whatever they said to get elected, the end result would probably be quite similar.

grimbletart · 19/05/2012 20:02

What always gets to me is how so many politicians don't understand basic economics.

flatpackhamster · 20/05/2012 07:35

You've had one. He's called Tony Blair. He told you what you wanted to hear, and then he went and did his own thing.

QueenEdith · 20/05/2012 07:43

Wasn't one of his earlier acts to announce plans to increase HRT to 70%?

Anyone know his full tax and spend plans? He doesn't have the eyebrows, but is he the French Dennis Healey?

ttosca · 20/05/2012 08:11

Making popular gestures & statements is how they all get elected, that's my point. Everyone is for 'pro-growth measures' the same way everyone's for world peace.

These two things are not at all similar, having 'pro-growth measures' is easily achievable after you've been elected. Keynesian stimulus policies are nothing new, or controversial, or untested.

Achieving it is quite a different matter.

Not really. The US, while cutting spending, has also concentrated on stimulus, and has an economy in far better shape than the UK. Of course, the economies are different; the US economy isn't dominated by financial sector like our is.

Talking to French colleagues pre-election, they were all quite convinced that whoever was elected and whatever they said to get elected, the end result would probably be quite similar.

Understandably people are quite cynically. Neo-liberal policies have dominated the political landscape for the past 30 years, and the financial crisis is where it got us. Things will change when people demand it.

chipstick10 · 20/05/2012 12:30

Am i right in thinking that as soon as he came to power it transpired the defecit was worse than he anticipated. I am prepared to wait and see but me thinks he wont be anywhere as near as radicle as he is leading people to believe.

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 20/05/2012 17:14

He's already been radical - do you not think female equality is 'radical'?

Do you have your eyes closed?

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QueenEdith · 20/05/2012 20:42

It'll be interesting to see how many of this cabinet are still in their posts in say 18months time. Blair milked a huge amount of positive publicity over e number of women appointed to his first cabinet. But far less was said as the numbers went down over time.

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 20/05/2012 22:15

Could you have seen Blair cutting his salry by 30%? Rather out of character.

So far Hollande doesn't seem the type to spend his time hanging out with billionaires - we shall see.

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flatpackhamster · 20/05/2012 22:24

What's radical about gender quotas? It's the sort of reactionary thinking that makes socialist governments a laughing stock. It's student union politics.

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 20/05/2012 22:31

Is it? I thought that when I was a student and was against them in what I thought was a mature way.

Now I'm older I can se that quotas are the only way forward - unless you want to wait another 100 years.

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flatpackhamster · 21/05/2012 08:30

Quotas aren't progressive. They're taking people and treating them like things. Quotas say "It doesn't matter who you are or what you can do, you have to fulfil this requirement and nothing else matters. Quotas are Stalinist.

Original poster
breadandbutterfly · 21/05/2012 09:22

No, they are pragmatic. You can wait 100 years for things to change veeery slowly. Or you can ensure that change comes now. Unless you genuinely don't believe there are enough women capable of being ministers?

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MoreBeta · 21/05/2012 09:33

I think Hollande will do what every other French Presicdent does - run a public spending deficit and demand that Germany pays for it. The whole idea common Euro Bonds issued jointly by European countries but essentailly guaranteed by Germany is being floated by Hollande today as a serious idea. If that happens there will be no limit to what France can spend and Germany will end up paying for all of it.

I agree with quotas for women though. Quotas are not generally a good thing but better than the alternative which is women continually excluded from positions of power. The proof of the pudidng will be in the eating though. Will these newly appointed women be in positions of real power or just have atitle and an office but all the decisons made by men chatting together behind closed doors?