The irresistible rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen ?sx Nick Robins reports from Paris on the ever-increasing popularity and influence of the French neo-fascist leader .sx The visit to London earlier this month of Jean-Marie Le Pen , president of the Front National ( FN ) is the latest chapter in a political career of provocation and outrage that started with his opposition to Algerian independence in the fifties .sx In France itself , tension has grown in recent weeks with the publication of the FN's '50 Propositions' to deal with the 'problem' of immigration .sx Drawn up by Bruno Megret , Le Pen's dapper number two , aptly known as 'the Goebbels of the FN' , the propositions include forced repatriation , explicit discrimination in favour of French workers , quotas for immigrants in the classroom , the repeal of laws banning racist incitement and replacing residence with blood as the basis of French nationality .sx The combined effect , according to Harlem Desir , president of SOS Racisme , the country's largest anti-racist movement , would be " to install apartheid in " .sx .sx Not surprisingly , the document has led to a wave of protests .sx However , the rhetoric of anti-fascism and anti-racism cannot hide the impotence and disorientation on the Left as well as on the Right in the face of a political movement that has climbed from 0.3 per cent of the vote in 1981 to 15 per cent in current opinion polls .sx On the issue of immigration itself , a recent poll suggested that 38 per cent of the French agree with the FN's policies .sx While Le Pen draws on a deep well of racist and ultra-nationalist ideology in France , his current success is linked to the collapse of the two compass-points of post-war French politics , Gaullism on the Right and Communism on the Left .sx In their place has emerged a woolly consensus between President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist Party ( PS ) , Giscard d'Estaing's Centrists and the pseudo-Gaullist Rassemblement Pour la Republique ( RPR ) on the merits of rapid European integration , a hard franc and liberal economics .sx Into this political vacuum has stepped Le Pen with his insidious message linking all problems to a single issue , immigration .sx At just over 6 per cent , the current percentage of immigrants in the French population is the same as it was in the thirties .sx The difference is that , whereas the immigrants of the pre-war period were Italians and Poles , post-war immigration has come increasingly from France's old colonies in Africa , in particular from the Maghreb .sx Long a secondary concern , immigration surged to the centre-stage of French politics in 1983 on the back of rising unemployment and urban distress caused in part by the Socialist Government's decision to adopt hard-line monetarist policies to bring inflation in line with Germany .sx Since then , unemployment has never fallen below 8 per cent ( it is currently hovering at 10 per cent ) , social spending has been cut back and income disparities have widened .sx The consequences for the children of immigrants in the high-rise ghettos around Paris , Lyon and Marseille have been particularly tough .sx High rates of crime and recurrent rioting have followed .sx In April at Satrouville , hundreds protested against the shooting of an 18-year-old boy by a supermarket security guard .sx As one of his friends said after the killing , " If you're called Mohammed you don't get a job .sx If you're called Robert you do .sx " .sx But it is not just a question of jobs .sx France's republican traditions based upon an almost mystical belief in the nation's historical mission have been challenged by the growth of a large non-white , non-Christian population .sx The furore in 1989 over whether Muslim girls should be allowed to wear head - dress at school highlighted the limits of the French policy of secular integration .sx Many on the Left are still opposed to multi-culturalism , which they fear threatens national identity and would lead to social fragmentation on the American model .sx It is also important to recognise that support for the Front National does not rely solely on its hard-line policies on race and immigration .sx Le Pen has fed on the growing public distaste with a political elite tarnished by scandals and rising concern about the implications of a barrier-free Europe .sx As the French daily , Liberation , recently noted , French politics is no longer divided horizontally between the Right and the Left , but vertically between the 'insiders' and the 'outsiders' - a term that Le Pen has taken as his own .sx In the face of this malaise , Le Pen's greatest political victory has been to make immigration an increasingly accepted scapegoat for unemployment and crime and to make race the prism through which these problems are viewed .sx This year has seen Jacques Chirac , RPR leader , sympathising with Parisians about the unpleasantness of 'smells' coming from immigrant areas , the former President , Giscard d'Estaing , describing immigration as an 'invasion' , and the Socialist Prime Minister , Edith Cresson , proposing to charter jets to expel illegal immigrants en masse .sx The issue is no longer whether Le Pen will get into a position of power to implement his policies , but to what extent his policies will be carried out by others .sx Marie-Claude Mendes-France , the widow of Pierre Mendes-France who was Socialist Prime Minister during the fifties , has made a chilling comparison with the Vichy regime :sx " The law against Jews was introduced on October 1940 , before the Germans had imposed anything .sx " .sx To date , the official response from the Socialist Government to Le Pen has been a combination of increasingly stringent checks and high-sounding condemnation .sx But behind this lies a mixture of powerlessness and cynicism .sx Although the government has taken a number of useful initiatives to tackle urban problems , it is constrained by the continuing weakness of the French economy and its commitment to monetary stability to restrain much-needed public spending on education and training .sx By splitting the Right-wing vote , Le Pen is a godsend for the Socialists , which they have not been slow to exploit .sx Mitterrand has not forgotten the advantage he gained in the 1988 Presidential elections when Le Pen refused to advise his supporters to vote for the Right's candidate , Jacques Chirac , in the second round .sx The President is hoping to exploit these splits further in the March regional elections and the parliamentary elections in 1993 .sx For the latter , Mitterrand is pressing hard for the reintroduction of some form of proportional representation , which would allow him to construct a coalition government with the Centrists for the closing years of his second term .sx The presence of at least 50 FN deputies in parliament would also give him a constant focus for illuminating what he sees as the true face of the Right .sx Outside government , there are increasing initiatives to challenge the FN's ascendancy .sx Following its deep divisions during the Gulf war , SOS Racisme is moving on to the offensive with a huge rally planned for next month .sx Its posters for the event are refreshingly to the point , with one showing in black and white a couple of skinheads doing a Nazi salute , counterposed with a multi-colour picture of youth from all races .sx In addition , a number of Socialist Deputies have launched a 'Manifesto Against the Front National' , which has collected more than 60,000 signatures to date .sx There is certainly no lack of innovative local projects , ranging from anti-racist 'tupperware' parties to community business schemes .sx What is missing is a strategy to create the appropriate economic conditions and the political mood to help universalise these good ideas across the country .sx Little can now be expected from Mitterrand , who has lost his touch and looks increasingly like a lame - duck President .sx Talk of forming a cross-party Republican Front against the FN only risks fuelling support for Le Pen as the 'outsider' .sx Instead , hard questions need to be asked about Government's record since 1981 , and the Socialist Party leadership's current lack of direction .sx A few parliamentarians , such as Julian Dray , a child of an immigrant himself , are willing to speak of policy failures , nailing poverty rather than race as the chief cause of France's problems and welcoming the diversity that immigration has brought to France .sx With only six points now separating the Socialist Party and the Front National in the opinion polls , the Left urgently needs to go back to basics and design a strategy that tackles the underlying causes for the rise of Le Pen .sx Whether the Socialist's new party platform - agreed on December 14 at a special party congress - is up to the job will be put to the test in the March regional elections .sx All eyes will be on the south , where Le Pen is hoping to take control of the regional council of Provence-Cote d'Azur .sx The Socialists have fielded a non-party heart surgeon to head the defence .sx The fight is certain to be close .sx Victory in Provence would further strengthen Le Pen's legitimacy ( he is already a member of the European Parliament ) and give him a powerbase for the parliamentary elections the following year .sx As the London visit showed , defeating Le Pen is not just a national matter for the French .sx He has become the most influential representative of Europe's new extreme Right .sx Mitterrand has a responsibility to ensure that he does not go down in history as the man who presided over the second outbreak of French fascism this century .sx As one of his advisers said after his 1988 Presidential victory , " The Verdict of the new term will be the score of Le Pen :sx if he gets 6 per cent , Mitterrand will have won .sx If he gets 18 per cent , he will have lost .sx " Sadly , the latter currently looks the most likely outcome .sx A boardroom farce .sx Labour's trade and industry spokesman , GORDON BROWN , attacks the Government's stance on top director's pay .sx One of the central consequences of the Tories' privatisation programme has been the extraordinary salary hikes granted to chairmen , chief executives and directors of the newly privatised companies .sx I have conducted a new survey of salaries , bonus payments and share options awarded to the privatised boardroom directors which reveals that this year's pay rises are at least keeping pace with last year's excessive increases .sx This year the average top director's rise in the gas industry is pounds57500 ; in electricity generation it is pounds73000 ; in the water industry it is pounds16000 and the chairman of British Telecom received a rise of at least pounds64000 .sx Despite overwhelming public disquiet about this matter , boardroom directors have continued to accept ever larger cash and share option packages .sx The chairman of British Telecom had a pounds64000 rise in basic pay to pounds450000 with provision for up to pounds175000 in bonuses and share options which could now be cashed in for a total of pounds700000 .sx The chairman of British Gas had a pounds60000 rise in basic pay to pounds340000 with share options now worth pounds99000 .sx The chief executive of national power had a pounds164000 rise to pounds240000 ( a 217 per cent increase from the pre-privatisation salary of pounds76000) .sx The chief executives of both Northumbria and North West Water had a 37 per cent rise to salaries of pounds82000 and pounds150000 respectively .sx The chief executive of Scottish Power had a rise of pounds97000 to pounds160000 ( a 153 per cent rise since privatisation) .sx These are startling figures and the Government's unwillingness to do anything about them contrasts with its willingness to attack the proposal for a minimum wage of pounds3 .sx 40 an hour for people on poverty pay .sx Michael Howard in particular might reflect on the fact that many of those benefiting from this boardroom excess will earn more in a single day than some low-paid workers will earn in a year .sx Of course , those in the top-paid jobs don't just count their pay packets and share certificates .sx They can also tot up the perks that quietly embellish the lifestyles of Britain's corporate elite .sx In the newly privatised industries there has been no shortage of generosity in this department .sx But the prize has to go to the chairman of British Gas , Robert Evans .sx The refurbishment of his rent-free London home included the installation of gold taps in the bathroom , pounds25000 worth of gas fitting ranging from a tumble dryer to an Aga cooker , all linked to the grid by a mile-long private pipeline and , most lavish of all , the gas supply for his garden amenities .sx