Andrew Bridgen MP: Why Miliband and Balls should fear a Hollande victory

Andrew Bridgen is Member of Parliament for North West Leicestershire.  Follow Andrew on Twitter.

The result of the election for the next French President will undoubtedly have an impact on the UK both politically and economically. With a socialist being the likely winner, first instincts are that this would be bad news for the Conservative Party. However, it is my belief those who face the biggest danger from the French Socialist is Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. 

So far Ed Milliband and Ed Balls have been able to get away with their borrow and spend economically illiterate message on the economy as no Government has chosen to follow its prescription - the prescription that to get out of a debt crisis, you should borrow more. It is after all easier to say something would work better if there is no evidence to prove otherwise.

Should Francois Hollande become the French President, Ed Balls' economic ideas and theories will be put to test. Hollande wants new spending of 20 billion euros to be funded through taxing the rich.

Like Alistair Darling before him, Hollande is falling into the trap of thinking you can tax your way into prosperity. UK Treasury figures showed that increasing the top rate of tax from 40 to 50p in the pound was barely raising any money. What it was doing was driving wealth out of the country. 75% rates of tax will do the same to France and perhaps London should prepare for a mass migration of the wealthy French.

Should Hollande win, Ed Balls should be questioned on whether he supports the actions being taken in France. After all, in their support of the 50p rate, Labour have tied themselves to the French Socialist. In their plans to borrow to fund further state aided jobs, Labour and the French Socialists are of the same mind. Both Labour and the French Socialist are rejecting austerity. In effect, both will be borrowing to get out of a debt crisis.

Come the time of the next election, the Conservatives will be able to point at France with high debt, higher borrowing costs and fewer wealth creators and warn that should Ed Balls get control of the UK economy; the UK will have the same disaster on its hands. 

I would not suggest for a moment that given the narrative above that British Conservatives should be hoping for a Hollande victory next week, but perhaps Miliband and Balls should be praying that Sarkozy can pull something out of the sac, sorry bag.