The British love to think of the French as irredeemably corrupt. But take a look at recent corruption scandals in Britain and France and it is hard to avoid the impression that it is the French who are taking a tougher line on sleaze than the supposedly upright Anglo-Saxons.
Last month, both the British and French prime ministers were interviewed by the police within a week of each other. But the handling of Tony Blair was noticeably softer than the treatment meted out to Dominique de Villepin. Mr Blair had a gentlemanly chat about the "cash-for-honours" scandal - which involves allegations that the Labour party sold peerages in return for loans to the party. His interview took place in Downing Street in the middle of the day and took less than two hours. By contrast Mr de Villepin was subjected to a 13-hour interrogation, ending at 3am. He was apparently questioned about suggestions that he may have attempted to smear fellow ministers in the "Clearstream affair". (Warning to readers: do not attempt to understand the Clearstream affair, that way madness lies).
Of course, neither of these investigations has run its course. There may be more trouble in store for Mr Blair and Mr de Villepin. But the contrast between the treatment of the two leaders is still striking. And it is not the only recent example of French toughness and British laxity. Last month Britain's Serious Fraud Office was instructed by the government to drop an inquiry into allegations of bribery, connected to a huge arms-sales contract with Saudi Arabia. The reason given was that the inquiry was endangering national security.
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