The French generally look down their Gallic noses at the 'Anglos' or 'les rosbifs' as they sometimes call us. However the last few years have seen wave after wave of French economic colonists arrive in the UK, to take advantage of the fact that the UK economy has generally been more dynamic than the French at creating jobs.
It seems that the French state socialism model gives perks to the few, but little to the young educated elites leaving the higher education system. In the streets around the French embassy you will find French bookshops, patisseries and pavement cafes, all patronised by parents dropping off their children at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington. But the newcomers are not these diplomats and industrialists, but rather those who have fled France to get freedom from French bureaucracy.
Many of these economic migrants say that London's employers are more willing to give young professionals a chance ..... "If you want security and nice holidays you stay in France. If you crave adventure and want to get new skills, you come here", says the editor of www.bealondoner.com.
The thing that highlighted this point was the news that London is officially France's sixth biggest city by population ..... yes a greater population of French than Bordeaux, Nantes or Strasbourg. The French consulate estimates that anywhere between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens now live in London. The last such influx of French into London was the arrival of around 50,000 Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in the 1680's. Now it appears to be economic persecution that they are fleeing in even greater numbers.
It would be nice if the French politicians who preach about the superiority of the French system over that of the Anglo-Saxon one, would occasionally consider that 'La Gloire' might shine just a little bit more brightly in the world, if the brightest and the best of the French world were not all flocking to Londres to make their mark in the world.
It seems that the French state socialism model gives perks to the few, but little to the young educated elites leaving the higher education system. In the streets around the French embassy you will find French bookshops, patisseries and pavement cafes, all patronised by parents dropping off their children at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington. But the newcomers are not these diplomats and industrialists, but rather those who have fled France to get freedom from French bureaucracy.
Many of these economic migrants say that London's employers are more willing to give young professionals a chance ..... "If you want security and nice holidays you stay in France. If you crave adventure and want to get new skills, you come here", says the editor of www.bealondoner.com.
The thing that highlighted this point was the news that London is officially France's sixth biggest city by population ..... yes a greater population of French than Bordeaux, Nantes or Strasbourg. The French consulate estimates that anywhere between 300,000 and 400,000 French citizens now live in London. The last such influx of French into London was the arrival of around 50,000 Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in the 1680's. Now it appears to be economic persecution that they are fleeing in even greater numbers.
 |
| French economic migrant Huguenots arrived on beaches in the 1690's |
It would be nice if the French politicians who preach about the superiority of the French system over that of the Anglo-Saxon one, would occasionally consider that 'La Gloire' might shine just a little bit more brightly in the world, if the brightest and the best of the French world were not all flocking to Londres to make their mark in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.