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Mr Chirac, embattled by a run of crushing defeats and record low ratings in the polls, had clearly decided that the best form of defence was attack.

"I have a lot of esteem for the British people and for Tony Blair," he said. "But I do not believe that the British social model is a model that we should copy or envy."

In his annual Bastille Day television interview he did concede that unemployment was lower in Britain than in France, where it is running at more than 10 per cent. But in public health and tackling poverty the French were "much better placed than the British", he said.

France put a higher percentage of its national wealth into education and scientific research than Britain, Mr Chirac added - "So I don't envy their model."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...5/ixworld.html