In 1946 the French Prime Minister approached Great Britain with a proposal that France joined the British Commonwealth via a merger with Britain. That is, he wanted France to cease being altogether. He wanted The British Monarch to be head of state in France. The proposal was rejected and kept secret until last December, at the end of the 50 year embargo on Cabinet documents.

Frankly, it would have been better for Europe as a whole and possibly the world, if Great Britain had taken over both France and Germany in 1946 and created a much better version of the EU. Of course, the Americans would never have allowed that, busy as they were undermining any vestige of British Empire. History is quite peculiar isn’t it.

Mind you, in fairness, the British have made a right Royale cock up of their own beds in the meantime with a fractured concept of what Britain and britishness is. The Union of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales has only a few more years to run before that too crumbles into the dust, leaving three impoverished minor countries and one fairly wealthy one full of foreigners, and not having a clue what to do next. I blame it on James the First, myself (the 6th of Scotland) and his reverse takeover of the family firm. (not many realize that it was Scotland that took over England all those years ago!). Guy Fawkes was right.

So we still have the French arguing amongst themselves and screwing up Europe. Whoever is in charge there, don’t expect any sence other than fashion sense. French lingerie is still the prettiest.

Apparently carbecues are not universally popular with those who happen to own the cars!

The rejection of Mzzzz. Royal by the French electorate surely gives us reason for optimism. But it may may a bit premature to suppose that electing a right of center candidate offers evidence of a wholesale embrace of conservative politics. Time will tell the real story, of course.

In the meantime, it is more likely that this has little to do with changing the French cradle to grave system of State welfare. I’d bet two horsehides and a broke down saddle that this was the Gallic reflex to the (very realistic) sense of desperation and fear of Islamic encroachment in their society. What with all those maniacal French speaking imams enflaming their hoardes against the ethnic Frenchies at the local mosque and all. And Sarkozy would be just the guy to make things right (with any luck at all).

There have been some pretty sobering predictions by serious cultural observers and politicos that France will quite possibly fall to Islamic imperialism within 25 or so years. Not a very attractive prospect when one considers that this ‘ally’ is already possessed of nuclear military capabilities.

Would that this guy Sarkozy really does herald some kind of conservation shift in the landscape there. Better for us all.