British press gives Hollande cautious welcome

Britain’s press on Thursday gave French presidential hopeful Francois Hollande lukewarm approval after his visit to London, as wary papers mused on the implications of his possible victory.

Socialist candidate Hollande, who is tipped to win the upcoming vote, set alarm bells ringing in London’s financial district with his tough talk on market regulations and his vow to tackle speculators.

The business-friendly Daily Telegraph said Hollande’s visit on Wednesday “took his battle against finance to the lion’s den”.

Fellow centre-right broadsheet The Times also focused on Hollande’s attempts to curb the financial sector.

“The French Socialist candidate emerged from the Channel Tunnel on a mission to refurbish his image as scourge of over-free markets,” said the paper.

The frontrunner played down the lack of a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, instead holding talks with Ed Miliband, leader of Britain’s opposition centre-left Labour party.

British right-wingers have branded Miliband “Red Ed” over his apparent closeness to the unions, leading The Times to splash “Francois hits town with Ed le Rouge” above a picture of the pair.

The strongest support was offered by the left-leaning Guardian, which called him “a welcome visitor” who would make a better leader than current French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“They could only speak to each other through an interpreter when they met yesterday, but Ed Miliband has much to learn from Hollande, who is more charismatic, a better speaker, and has more experience controlling a fractious party,” said Thursday’s editorial.

The paper said French voters living in London had every right to be “as jaundiced about Sarkozy’s erratic, ego-fuelled rule as their compatriots at home.

“On the themes Hollande chose to address, a Europe that can provide jobs, growth and opportunity for the young, he preached to the converted,” it concluded.

The centre-left Independent remarked on the “rock-star adulation” received by Hollande on his arrival, saying he “wore the astonished toothy smile of a cosmetic dentist who has just won the lottery.”

“He might not quite look presidential yet, but in French it (his speech to French expats) was eloquent and moving. Who knows? He might even win,” it added.

Gideon Rachman of business paper the Financial Times focused on Hollande’s promise to introduce a top-rate tax of 75 percent, calling it “a bold move”.

“Perhaps he will be a trailblazer, shifting the debate on income tax back to the pre-Thatcher era,” he suggested.

“Or perhaps, France will remain an anomaly – and even more rich French people will move to London or Geneva. Either way, it would be an interesting experiment,” he added.