Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

Spare us Europe’s World Cup hypocrisy

Europe has come up with a way to hit back at Donald Trump. What began last week as a suggestion that the continent’s football nations should boycott this summer’s World Cup has grown into a popular campaign. As the New York Times reported earlier this week, the man who first floated the idea was Oke

English protestors in Calais are the left’s useful idiots

Two British men were arrested by French police in Calais on Sunday night. In a statement the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said the pair were detained ‘during an identity check while they were posting a video on social media’. Prosecutor Cecile Gressier said the men, aged 50 and 35, were in custody on suspicion of ‘participation in

Should trains have child-free carriages?

Amid the distractions of Donald Trump and Davos, France’s state-owned railway operator decided last week was the opportune time to slip out some news. Welcome to ‘Optimum’, the new and exclusive area of the train where kids are not welcome. Business people and misopedists travelling to and from Paris on the weekday high-speed TGV services

Gavin Mortimer, John Campbell, Mark Piesing & Daisy Dunn

32 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Gavin Mortimer reports on the battle between the EU and farmers; John Campbell explains Lord Haldane’s significance to politics today; reviewing Polar War by Kenneth R, Rosen, Mark Piesing ponders who will rule the arctic; and, Daisy Dunn celebrates the history of poems on the underground. Produced and presented

Gavin Mortimer, John Campbell, Mark Piesing & Daisy Dunn

The EU vs the farmers

It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the European Union. There was the news from Donald Trump that he will impose a 10 per cent tariff on eight European countries in retaliation for their opposition to his plans to take control of Greenland. But on a brighter note, the EU finally signed the Mercosur

Trump sees the EU for the bully it is

From our US edition

There has always been a touch of the actor about Emmanuel Macron, and the President of France was at his theatrical best at Davos on Tuesday. Sporting a pair of aviator sunglasses to conceal a broken blood vessel in his eye, Macron played the part of a man unjustly treated. Not just him, but all

How Macron’s ‘macho’ act fell apart

On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron was urging his fellow Europeans to use a ‘bazooka’ against Donald Trump in response to his tariff threat. Within 24 hours the President of France was alone in the trenches with his bazooka as Keir Starmer, Giorgia Meloni and Friedrich Merz all opted for jaw jaw and not war war. According to

Marine Le Pen is unstoppable

Marine Le Pen returned to court this week to contest her conviction last spring for misusing EU funds. Convicted of diverting more than €4 million (£3.5 million) meant for Brussels affairs in order to pay her staff, the leader of the National Rally was fined €100,000 (£86,600) and disqualified from politics for five years with

Is Steve Bannon right about Jordan Bardella?

From our US edition

Marine Le Pen returned to a court in Paris on Tuesday as her appeal began against her five-year ban from political life. The leader of the National Rally was disqualified in March last year after she was found guilty of misusing €4 million ($4.6 million) of funds from the European Union. She claims she is

jordan bardella

TikToks won’t stop illegal migration

The Labour government may not like X these days but they have turned to another social media platform in their latest bid to smash the gangs and stop the boats. As of today, an official Home Office TikTok account will have the people smugglers quaking in their boots as it posts images of illegal migrants

The French obsession with Epstein

From our US edition

The ongoing revelations about the rich and famous who rubbed shoulders with Jeffrey Epstein are receiving extensive coverage in France. Print and broadcast media have pored over the details of the deceased sex offender and the famous names contained in the Epstein files, from princes to presidents to pop stars. There is a French connection

The imposters who pretend to be heroes

‘Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea,’ wrote James Boswell of Samuel Johnson in his biography of his friend in 1778. Evidently Jonathan Carley did. The retired teacher was found guilty on Monday of impersonating a rear admiral without permission. The 65-year-old was fined

France’s revolting farmers could bring down Macron

Paris has been invaded this morning by more than 100 tractors driven by furious farmers. Just before dawn, a tree was felled by the protestors in the west of the capital close to the Roland Garros tennis stadium. The farmers have warned more will follow. ‘They want to slaughter our cows, so we’re going to

George Clooney has been seduced by a French fantasy

Bonjour and bienvenue to the Clooneys. Gorgeous George, his wife Amal and their eight-year-old twins have been granted French citizenship. The Hollywood actor has long had a deep streak of Europhilia, owning luxury properties in Berkshire and Lake Como, Italy, as well as his pad in Provence. Located near the village of Brignoles, the Clooneys’

Was Maduro’s capture the greatest special forces raid in history?

On this occasion no one can accuse Donald Trump of hyperbole. The American president praised the Delta Force team that seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as ‘incredible’. The operation to capture Maduro – codenamed ‘Absolute Resolve’ – was months in the planning, and Trump watched it unfold in real time. ‘They broke into places that

France is becoming a nation of sexless puritans

Bring back brothels! It’s not your typical political slogan, but Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has launched a campaign to reopen and regulate France’s brothels for the benefit of sex workers. In an interview last week Jean-Philippe Tanguy, one of Le Pen’s senior MPs, said his party would table a bill to reopen the brothels

Stopping the boats will be harder than Jordan Bardella thinks

France’s Jordan Bardella has promised to stop the boats. Now where have we heard that before? The president of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally made his boast on a day trip to London on Tuesday. After lunching with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, the 30-year-old outlined his strategy for curtailing the passage of illegal immigrants between

Bardella and Le Pen are closer to power than ever before

The 20 days that Nicolas Sarkozy recently spent behind bars have been turned into a book published today. The 70-year-old former president of France was convicted of criminal conspiracy after a long-running investigation into charges his aides approached Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for campaign funds. ‘Sarko’ was jailed for five years but he was released