“My remit is my elected office, my means is our elected parliament, my oath requires my service of the republic, and thus my duty is continued reform.”
That’s what President Emmanuel Macron should have said as he addressed France on Monday evening. Instead, the president embraced weak humility: “I know some of you have been hurt by my words,” he said.
Attempting to pour political water on the “yellow vest” volcano of political emotion that has turned Paris and other French cities into war zones in recent weeks, Macron offered compromise. He pledged to boost the minimum wage by $28 a week, to scrap pension reforms, and to pressure companies to increase wages. Macron’s only moment of strength came when he refused to reintroduce a wealth tax that destroyed foreign investment under his predecessor. Regardless, Macron has just proved that he is not what France needs.
France needs its own Margaret Thatcher.
The surface parallels between Macron and Thatcher are striking. Both leaders were erstwhile political outsiders elected amid grotesque failures of left-wing governance. Both entered office with parliamentary mandates for bold economic reform. And both faced massive protests against their agenda. But Thatcher stood firm. The “Iron Lady” spent much of her first term in office breaking the unions that opposed her and doing so amid terrible approval ratings. Thatcher simply knew what had to be done, and she did it. The result was the modern Britain we see today. One with a stable and vibrant private sector economy and much higher living standards. Thatcher’s example is also clear: Great captains of political reform must master the storm, not be mastered by it. Thatcher used the police to defend her democratic actions against mob assault. Macron sent the police into harm’s way only to then surrender.
Do not listen to those who tell you that Macron’s arrogance has been the issue here. Macron’s issue is not that he has pursued too many difficult reforms too quickly, but that he has pursued too few reforms too slowly. Yes, the tax rises that sparked the yellow vest upheaval were bad policy. But the vast majority of those now opposing Macron are not French-style tea party activists, they are big state zealots. As with the big unions that Thatcher once faced, these zealots are not going to be won over by persuasion or compromise. In the end, they must simply be defeated.
As offered today, Macron’s new strategy cannot achieve that objective. Instead, Macron can only hope for a dormancy of violence in return for his surrender of hard reform. But that choice will be to the great detriment of France.
