The French economy, unemployment and taxes compare very poorly with Coalition Conservatism

In May 2015 the UK Voter faces a stark choice, as to who should be Prime Minister, for which there are only two choices. There is, however, assistance...an example of what we, here in the UK, would get if we voted for the two Eds to be PM and Chancellor. And it is France.

In France, run by Ed Miliband's friend and Socialist guru, Francois Hollande, they have:
- mega taxes [75%]
- businesses unable to grow or take on new workers
- unemployment at record levels, with shocking youth unemployment in particular
- and a country generally struggling to grow the economy

In this country we have:
- cut taxes
- allowed businesses to grow and take on more workers
- we, in the uk, have the fastest growing economy in Europe
- with employment levels that are improving all the time.

It is a simple choice in May. If you want an economy like France, unemployment like France etc etc vote for Ed Miliband and Ed Balls to run the country. I urge you not to, but you need to understand that there is mirror image over the Channel of what you would be voting for. As many have said before, why would you give the car keys back to the team who crashed your car in the first place?

The Tony Blair Question is a fair one: is Ed Mili's Labour a Left wing or centre ground party?

We are all now familiar with Tony Blair's recent statements that:

“I am still very much New Labour and Ed Miliband would not describe himself in that way, so there is obviously a difference there,” he added. “I am convinced the Labour Party succeeds best when it is in the centre ground.”

This came from his recent interview with the Economist: see here - http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/tony-blair-ed-miliband-general-election-labour

Blair is clear in his own mind that Ed Miliband is left wing, and offering impractical solutions to the countries big questions - but upon this voters will have to decide. Put simply, what kind of Labour Party are they being offered?
As Dan Hodges, the columnist put it:
"For the past four years. Labour has been trying to win from the Left. The New Politics. The Thirty Five Per Cent strategy. Zen Politics. Whatever you wanted to call it, the grand plan – and the philosophy underpinning it – were clear. To win, Labour had to reject the consensus, “Big Tent” politics of Blairism."

Earlier this week, in a refreshingly honest open letter to Tony Blair, Neal Lawson – a member of Ed Miliband’s early kitchen cabinet – set out the thinking behind the strategy. “In hindsight, the wrong people were voting Labour. The tent was too big and you spent the next 10 years trying to keep the wrong people in it.”

The evidence against the 2 Eds is pretty clear: Labour has formally abandoned the political centre and swung to the Left. Deficit denial. Big state interventionism. Raw anti-capitalism. Public service protectionism; a nation divided between “producers and predators”.

For my part, I well remember the 1997 General Election and the Labour Party rightly won. Blair offered a centre left party which supported business, wanted to keep taxes down as they knew high taxes stop job creation, and which had a genuine offer to Mr and Mrs Middle Ground UK. Clearly the Labour Party lost its way during their 13 years in office but their message in 1997 was clear.

Under Ed Miliband and Ed Balls their hero is the far left socialist leader, Francois Hollande of France - he of the 75% taxes, anti business laws, and pro union policies. The results in France have been catastrophic. Minimal growth, mass unemployment, entrepreneurs and job creators leaving the country in droves.

So it is a fair question, posed by a Labour leader who won three elections largely from the entre: is Ed Miliband a centre ground politician or a left wing politician? That is for voters to decide, but the evidence is pretty clear. 

Miliband's Bon Ami Hollande shows why French socialism is no way to run a country

As the French economy struggles on and socialism fails I am not sure Ed Miliband will continue to argue that the French way is a better way. But if you want an understanding of how bad Britain would be under the 2 Ed's then France is your example.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10735650/Francois-Hollande-picks-a-government-of-combat-after-disaster-at-the-polls.html

Foreign Investment in France falls by 77% - compare French socialism with Germany, UK, Spain or even Ireland?

The economic numbers coming out of France are horrific. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that new investments by foreign businesses in France fell sharply in 2013 by 77%. A collapse of international confidence in France.
By contrast, foreign investment in Angela Merkel’s Germany almost quadrupled, and even in Spain, Italy and Ireland foreign investment rose. The explanation is that France has a left-wing socialist government. Hollande’s great admirer Ed Miliband is likewise promising to bring back socialism to Britain:
As Ed recently said:
“What President Hollande is seeking to do in France and what he is seeking to do in leading the debate in Europe is find that different way forward. We are in agreement in seeking that new way that needs to be found and I think can be found.”

Francois Hollande - is he still Ed Miliband's "Bon Ami"?

"This new leadership is sorely needed as Europe seeks to escape from austerity … He has shown that the centre-Left can offer hope and win elections with a vision of a better, more equal and just world." Ed Miliband's words on President Hollande's election victory in 2012


France now sees negative growth in Q3, unemployment at 11 per cent and rising, 75% taxes, public spending as a percentage of GDP second-highest in the eurozone, unions kidnapping business leaders [I kid you not – see the Goodyear story], and I have totally ignored the President’s private life. Yesterday at PMQs things went from bad to worse for Ed with the last question of the day:

Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con):
"The Leader of the Opposition has said, “What Hollande is doing in France I want to do in Britain.” Given recent events across the channel, does my right hon. Friend agree that that is completely at odds with our long-term economic plan?"

The Prime Minister:
"I did not catch all of President Hollande’s press conference yesterday, because I was appearing in front of the Liaison Committee, but one thing that I did notice is that the French proposals now are to cut spending in order to cut taxes in order to make the economy more competitive. Perhaps the shadow Chancellor, in his new silent form, will want to consider some of those ideas and recognise that this revolution of making business more competitive and trying to win in the global race is a proper plan for the economy."