The Hindu : U.K. wary of French `syndrome'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 25, 2002

International

International

U.K. wary of French `syndrome'

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON APRIL 24. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, today became the first Government leader in Europe to denounce the policies of the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen whose dramatic showing in the first round of French presidential elections has sent shockwaves here.

As mainstream parties, including the right-of-centre Tories, set aside their differences to warn against the "French syndrome'' spreading to Britain, Mr. Blair condemned Mr Le Pen's agenda as "repellant and racist'' in what was seen as an unusual intervention in another country's election process. But so stunned is the British political class and the media over what has happened next door in France that even Mr. Blair's critics let it pass.

Indeed there was unanimous support for his call for a Europe-wide resistance to attempts of neo-fascist groups to stage a comeback riding on people's growing alienation from mainstream political processes. The chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, Gurbux Singh, suggested a "united front against racism, xenophobia and the politics of disunity'' ahead of next week's nationwide local elections in which the racist British National Party (BNP) is determined to make significant gains particularly in the sensitive immigrant towns of Oldham, Burnley and Bradford-scenes of last year's race riots.

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