To the editor of Unherd: the constant use of the term ‘far right’ by your contributors needs to stop. The people referred to this way are not ‘far right’ at all. What separates them from their opposition is solely their belief that governments should act above all in the national interest and not on behalf of a supranational elite. Repeatedly describing them in this way is both dishonest and misleading.
There used to be the term ‘right (or left) wing’, which perfectly described political views clearly to one side or other of the political spectrum. Why can’t this be used as a less contentious label?
The Labour Party was founded by a Christian , Keir Hardie who wanted to improve the quaity of life of the un and semi skilled; he was against class war. Lenin believed in a small group of revolutionaries taking power; he had contempt for the lumpen proletariat.
Hardie was a democrat, Lenin a dictator who believed any action, be it murder, rape, mutilation was justified if it furthered the cause.
In France the revolutionaries adopted the belief in the Divine Rigtht of the King and the concept of Droit Administratif used ruthlessly by Cadinal Richlieu.Those running the EEC/EU have no experience of English Common Law and believe in the Divine Right of Politicians and Bureaucrats and the ruthless use of the Le Droit Administratif.
The modern day civil service have the same attitude as the higher echelons( abbots, bishops and above ) of the Romn Catholic Church pre- Reformation.
All part of the language control and manipulation used by the left for many decades.
Old Stalin knew what he was doing when he called Trotsky “Right wing”, before he had him done away with. All good communists together.
Katharine Eyre
11 days ago
I do feel a bit sorry for Barnier. Macron must have thought he was just the ticket to be dealing with a fractious coalition due to his skills at keeping people with different interests united which we saw during Brexit (you have to admit that, even if you’re still moody about it. Which personally I’m not).
If he’d have just stayed in retirement, then that would have been the crowning glory of his career. Now he’s added this car crash to the resumé. Quit while you’re ahead and all that.
Paul K
11 days ago
Far-Right, Far-Left, left, right, centre-right, centrist.
What is going on with the capitalisation here? Is there a code I’m not in on And when is someone going to actually define these terms for me?!
Emmanuel MARTIN
11 days ago
Seen from France, our situation is an inextricable mess.
There are basically 3 camps in France (center, farleft, farright) and they have each one third of the vote.
So at some point, we’ll get an IMF administrator, maybe in a few years.
Unfortunately all 3 camps are made up of fervent believers in the existence of the Magic Money Tree.
Santiago Excilio
11 days ago
“a full-blown crisis of the eurozone still seems far-fetched, given the broadly robust nature of the French economy.”
I would disagree with this. Since the start of September, the French economy has undergone a marked economic downturn. Investment is slowing down, the unemployment curve is reversing, redundancy plans and bankruptcies are multiplying, the country’s economic attractiveness is deteriorating, and the social climate is tense. They cannot seem to reign in spending, the budget deficit is running at 6% plus (in complete contravention to the EU’s 3% rule) and their largest trading partner, Germany, is in recession. There is nothing very robust in this picture.
Once Trump gets going the same fate awaits all of us. His cheap oil, low-regulation, AI turbo-charged economy is going to suck every last penny of capital out of the sclerotic EU. If Starmer doesn’t ditch the Net Zero nonsense (and David Lammy) pretty promptly our future looks even worse.
France and Germany in political upheaval can not be a good omen for the EU. Especially with Trump back in the USA. How will they pay for increased defense spending, high social welfare costs, and the “green net zero transition?” Very tough choices ahead.
Main Edition
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To the editor of Unherd: the constant use of the term ‘far right’ by your contributors needs to stop. The people referred to this way are not ‘far right’ at all. What separates them from their opposition is solely their belief that governments should act above all in the national interest and not on behalf of a supranational elite. Repeatedly describing them in this way is both dishonest and misleading.
I suggest we call the Rassemblement National ‘right’ or ‘just right’ and everyone else ‘kinda right’.
Or the opposite to the Far Right are the Far Wrong?
There used to be the term ‘right (or left) wing’, which perfectly described political views clearly to one side or other of the political spectrum. Why can’t this be used as a less contentious label?
The labels no longer mean anything. ‘Left’ used to mean solidarity with the working class, now it just means statist.
The Labour Party was founded by a Christian , Keir Hardie who wanted to improve the quaity of life of the un and semi skilled; he was against class war. Lenin believed in a small group of revolutionaries taking power; he had contempt for the lumpen proletariat.
Hardie was a democrat, Lenin a dictator who believed any action, be it murder, rape, mutilation was justified if it furthered the cause.
In France the revolutionaries adopted the belief in the Divine Rigtht of the King and the concept of Droit Administratif used ruthlessly by Cadinal Richlieu.Those running the EEC/EU have no experience of English Common Law and believe in the Divine Right of Politicians and Bureaucrats and the ruthless use of the Le Droit Administratif.
The modern day civil service have the same attitude as the higher echelons( abbots, bishops and above ) of the Romn Catholic Church pre- Reformation.
Agreed. This nonsense screams out of the page every time and makes it difficult to take seriously anything else in the article.
Why do we have to keep using these outdated terms of left and right at all?
All part of the language control and manipulation used by the left for many decades.
Old Stalin knew what he was doing when he called Trotsky “Right wing”, before he had him done away with. All good communists together.
I do feel a bit sorry for Barnier. Macron must have thought he was just the ticket to be dealing with a fractious coalition due to his skills at keeping people with different interests united which we saw during Brexit (you have to admit that, even if you’re still moody about it. Which personally I’m not).
If he’d have just stayed in retirement, then that would have been the crowning glory of his career. Now he’s added this car crash to the resumé. Quit while you’re ahead and all that.
Far-Right, Far-Left, left, right, centre-right, centrist.
What is going on with the capitalisation here? Is there a code I’m not in on And when is someone going to actually define these terms for me?!
Seen from France, our situation is an inextricable mess.
There are basically 3 camps in France (center, farleft, farright) and they have each one third of the vote.
So at some point, we’ll get an IMF administrator, maybe in a few years.
Sounds like you need a parliamentary guillotine.
Unfortunately all 3 camps are made up of fervent believers in the existence of the Magic Money Tree.
“a full-blown crisis of the eurozone still seems far-fetched, given the broadly robust nature of the French economy.”
I would disagree with this. Since the start of September, the French economy has undergone a marked economic downturn. Investment is slowing down, the unemployment curve is reversing, redundancy plans and bankruptcies are multiplying, the country’s economic attractiveness is deteriorating, and the social climate is tense. They cannot seem to reign in spending, the budget deficit is running at 6% plus (in complete contravention to the EU’s 3% rule) and their largest trading partner, Germany, is in recession. There is nothing very robust in this picture.
Once Trump gets going the same fate awaits all of us. His cheap oil, low-regulation, AI turbo-charged economy is going to suck every last penny of capital out of the sclerotic EU. If Starmer doesn’t ditch the Net Zero nonsense (and David Lammy) pretty promptly our future looks even worse.
I 100% agree with you, which is why on the day Trump won the election I switched the weighting across all my portfolios to overweight US.
Wise move.
France and Germany in political upheaval can not be a good omen for the EU. Especially with Trump back in the USA. How will they pay for increased defense spending, high social welfare costs, and the “green net zero transition?” Very tough choices ahead.
You are repeating yourself: the high social welfare costs are for the injured Windmills. 🙂