Nicolas Sarkozy is a breath of fresh air; a right-winger unafraid of delivering a tough message to his nation. He sought and won an honest mandate for change.

Out will go restrictive labour practices like the 35-hour week which have cost France millions of jobs, out will go inheritance tax for 95 per cent of the population because "the fruits of a lifetime's work should not be taken by the State". In will come a much tougher stance on immigration and crime.

As Sarkozy bravely notes, the "explosion" of social problems on big housing estates in France is clearly linked to
massive inward migration from Africa and elsewhere.

What a contrast it all makes with the namby-pamby liberalism displayed by almost all leading politicians in Britain. Sometimes it seems as if nobody is prepared to confront wrong-doing and turn down the demands of
noisy interest groups for fear of being turned into some kind of political ogre.

The great advantage Sarkozy now has is that because he did not soft-soap the French public he therefore has a relatively free hand to put his true a...

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