FRENCH FUTURE?

John Lichfield, the Indy's Paris correspondent, sifts through new batches of official statistics. On balance, they're surprisingly upbeat.

Comments

[Martin Adamson]

Many in France doubt that these statistics are to be trusted.

See this article in Le Figaro, 3rd item.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/20070119.FIG000000038_les_limites_de_la_methode_royal.html

[Recusant]

Yes, France does have a high/higher birthrate, but the difference between its rate and the rest of Europe is more than totally contained within the 10% of its population that is Muslim. France doesn't register religious affiliation but other non-state surveys have and they demonstrate that the non-Muslim birthrate is the same as, or lower than, the rest of Western Europe.

Now one can be neutral about that, but those children certainly won't be growing up in the French Enlightenment, Laicite tradition. France may grow to become the 'dominant' European nation, but will it be France. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite anyone?

[Nb These comments were originally added to the wrong post.]