France lurches to the Right

Racism and irrationality are rising threats to civility in France. There is a rising intolerance of Muslims and immigrants who are excluded from much of French life. Many live in ghettos in the north of Paris and are disconnected from French life. The latest intentions of the Interior Minister are surely in breach of Human Rights and are illegal under EU rules. Recessions always throw up nationalistic nastiness and we should guard against this here at home. That is why reform of welfare payment systems to make fraud more difficult is important so that the claims that foreigners are ripping off social welfare can be countered. The Daily Telegraph has this report today –

France’s interior minister targets immigrants who practise polygamy

France’s lurch to the right continued after Brice Hortefeux, the country’s interior minister, called for immigrants who practise polygamy or female genital mutilation to have their citizenship withdrawn.

By Peter Allen in Paris
Published: 4:29PM BST 08 Aug 2010

France’s interior minister targets immigrants who practice polygamy

Mr Hortefeux said there were “possibilities to have nationality withdrawn in the case of polygamy, genital mutilation and serious wrongdoing.” In all cases the radical punishment would not just apply to immigrants, but also to those who have a foreign background, even if they were born in France.

It follows President Nicolas Sarkozy calling for all foreigners who attack police in the kind of riots which blighted Muslim housing estates earlier this month to also lose their nationality.

Mr Hortefeux was speaking after an Algerian-born French Muslim was questioned by police about regularly raping a woman he was involved with between 2003 and 2007.

He has already been charged with claiming thousands of pounds worth of state aid for 15 children he had with four different women.

Mr Hortefeux said that if the man was found guilty he wanted him stripped of his nationality as part of a “national war on delinquency.”

He said he would submit his new proposals later this month, and they could technically be made law by the end of the year.

Opponents have argued however that such a move may be deemed unconstitutional.