Finger on the pulse of Martians

As ever Simon Heffer has his fingers on the pulse...of Martians.

This time Sarkozy is the best thing to happen since sliced bread. He is, apparently, showing the resurgent British Tories the way to power, wait for it, by suggesting a tough Australian-style approach to immigration. Now, Heffer-lump doesn't justify this on the basis of predicted pleasant outcomes of the policy for France. No - it will get Sarko power and would do for the Tories too.

"Sarkozy shows Conservatives the right way to win power"
Read it. The conclusion he draws is hilarious!

What Heffer ignores, of course, is this short but non-exhaustive list of differences between Sarko's position (I'm a fan, by the way) and Cameron's. Just political, of course, I'm leaving the merits out of these; just like the substance-over-style Heffer...

-Sarko is a Government Minister, so starts from a position of power.
-His party has been winning elections.
-France has a sclerotic economy which needs jumpstarting.
-France is in a clear slump and needs bogey-men.
-France has serious issues relating to immigration and integration which have come to light in a much more obvious and impacting way on the French than problems have done in Britain ie. there were large-scale riots across France for days.
-Sarkozy hasn't just lost an election pretty heavily which was defined by focussing on immigration.
-Sarkozy hasn't just seen an election lost because his party is seen as "the nasty party" partly because of the perceived focus on that policy, right or wrong.
-Sarkozy isn't up against a Government which has been seen to take some fairly tough action (albeit in practice pretty useless) on the "immigration issue".

This article really would be risible if it wasn't so tragically vapid. Oh look, there's a right-wing policy being adopted let's say Cameron should be doing for no reason other than the fact someone else is...