The French New Popular Front and the British Labour Party have come to power. But the left is divided by more than the English Channel.
Both left-wing structures, just a few weeks after their victories, demonstrated completely different visions of how they would conduct their policies. The British Labour Party had been out of power for 14 years, while the French left had not dominated parliament for 8 years. When the winner of the general election in Britain was announced, the First Secretary of the French Socialists, Olivier Faure, wrote on social media: ‘God save the LEFT’. However, it soon became clear that they had little in common.
First, Keir Starmer, who took over the leadership of the Labour Party in 2020, decided to reformat it from a «protest party» to a «party of government». To do this, he began vigorously supporting the liberal wing of the party while ruthlessly «purging» all dissenters, starting with Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader. Corbyn was expelled because of anti-Semitic sentiments that had infiltrated the Labour ranks and could have cost them dearly.
In France, the left-wing radical Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has become a household name, has not held public office since 2020, but remains a heavyweight in every issue that arises in French society. The youth of his party push an anti-Zionist rhetoric, expressed mainly in support of Palestine and often spilling over into the same anti-Semitism.
Starmer takes a more cautious approach to his future reforms, insisting that they will continue to fight for the fulfillment of people’s aspirations and striving to uphold his campaign slogan: «Country first, then party».
The French left is currently embroiled in a debate over who has the most power within the New Popular Front (NPF): the socialists, the communists, or the ecologists. And then there’s Mélenchon. It’s understandable, because it’s a front, a coalition that won the legislative elections. And now they are all pushing each other closer to the exit, haggling over the candidate for prime minister to propose to the president. Each group wanted to insist that their party’s policies be implemented by the future head of government. They almost came to blows, and Macron rejected all the proposals.
In terms of economic policy, both seem to focus on increasing government support, especially for education and health care. But where the money will come from is where the differences begin. The NPF’s program is more social classical, while Starmer’s is neoliberal.
The British Labour Party wants to be a party that creates national wealth through business. For example, they do not intend to introduce new taxes on business to encourage profit growth, which they believe is the only way to stimulate the economy at this time. If there are investors, they should be directed to the private sector. The British Labour Party wants to be a party that creates national wealth through business. For example, they do not intend to introduce new taxes on business to encourage profit growth, which they believe is the only way to stimulate the economy at this time. If there are investors, they should be directed to the private sector.
The New Popular Front believes that «the state is omnipotent and decides everything». To replenish the treasury, a new windfall tax should be introduced, the minimum wage should be raised to 1,600 euros, financed, of course, by businesses. Increase public sector salaries, reintroduce the wealth tax, but even that may not be enough. All this has been tried before under Hollande — it will lead to an exodus of big business from the country, taking capital with them.
Again, the British Labour Party is relying on fiscal discipline to control the national debt, which is now approaching 100 percent of GDP. One of Labour’s election promises was to restore benefits for families with two or more children, which the Conservatives had cut. But after dipping into the public purse, they realized that this measure would be unaffordable at the moment.
The French don’t even want to hear about the national debt, which is almost 110 percent of GDP; it’s not even in their program.
But Starmer may not succeed either. If the expected effects of his left-liberal policies do not materialize, the Labour Party could start cutting education and health budgets and raising taxes. And everything will be back to square one.
Now to the most pressing issue of recent years — immigration. Immediately after their election victory, the British rejected the rather controversial plan to send all new arrivals to Rwanda while their applications were being processed. But that doesn’t mean they’re giving up the fight against illegal immigrants.
To this end, Starmer’s cabinet intends to create a separate department that will include the police, the Border Force and even MI6, all of which will be tasked with effectively combating the underground networks that smuggle migrants, as the main evil lies in them. There are even plans to introduce legislation to equate this trafficking with terrorism. Such an approach is unprecedentedly bold for the British left.
Starmer also understands the need to control legal migration, as British industry currently relies heavily on it. Here, too, several measures are planned with the same goal — to boost industrial production by replacing migrants with a more skilled local workforce.
The New Popular Front thinks in the opposite direction. They plan to revise the already hotly debated immigration law, simplify the visa process, legalize those already working in France, parents of children enrolled in schools, create a sea rescue agency (which will presumably return migrants to France, certainly not to England!), and create a climate migrant status for those who find it too hot at home.
On the environmental front, both sides agree that the emphasis should be on renewable energy sources, and Starmer even wants to make Britain a clean energy superpower. To this end, the British are betting on the development of small modular reactors and want to relaunch the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project.
The French have decided to revisit this issue by 2027, but to include a penalty clause for violating environmental standards in the wealth tax.
There are also differences on security. The Labour Party, which has faced serious challenges in several cities in recent weeks, plans to hire 20,000 more police officers, while the NPF wants to strip the police of some of their powers and tighten control over them.
And, as they say, on trans issues, Labour does not intend to pay as much attention to transgender people as in France and the US, as this segment of the electorate could alienate the traditional and more numerous one. The French left, on the other hand, made the LGBT community almost the driving force of its campaign, promising, among other things, that it would be possible to change one’s gender simply by presenting an ID card at the local town hall.