Sometimes A Cigar Is Just A Cigar....

...and a chicken shop is just a chicken shop:

...reading about the left-on-left battle at Master Poulet, a French chicken chain that just opened its first UK branch, I found myself mulling a question that felt more than a little personal: am I chicken shop left? OK, OK, this might just be a me problem. I’ve always had an interest in chicken shops. Maybe it’s personal: chicken shops, offering cheap halal takes on mainstream fare, have long been a pursuit of south Asian immigrants who hoped, like my own family, for a better life in this brave new world (talk about a wing and a prayer). But they are also bound up in Black British youth culture: neighbourhood incubators for music, affordable places to hang, landmarks of “the ends”. Chicken shops tell the story of a mixed, working-class Britain, with all its whimsy.

’Working class’? Are you sure? Mostly favoured by imported immigrant youth for whom a days work is not something to be looked for…

Back in April, Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist party (PS) mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, near Paris, tried to block a Master Poulet branch that had opened outside the town hall. Literally, with concrete blocks at the doors. A court ordered them removed, so he swapped them for giant colourful plant pots. The shop responded with quippy signs (“we are open … no offence to Karim”, read one), delighting French social media with this meta game of chicken. Bouamrane insisted it was all about quality of life, as late deliveries and cooking smells disturbed residents. Not everyone was convinced.

It's not so surprising in France, unlike the English, they are proud of their food culture and not about to see it swamped by foreign cultures. 

Saint-Ouen has transformed in recent years, not least due to regeneration pegged to the Paris Olympics. Critics accuse the mayor of overseeing a gentrification drive that has seen property prices surge, arguing that’s his real issue: he wants to chase out cheap food (and the sorts of people who eat it).

And that is, after all, the very purpose of gentrification whether one seeks it in France or England. Remove the troublesome population and the surroundings become much more pleasant as a result.

Which may explain why politicians from the further-left La France Insoumise (LFI), have waded in, questioning whether Islamophobia and classism are at play, and accusing the mayor of abusing his power. One MP visited the shop in solidarity. His name? Éric Coquerel. I’ll just leave that there.

To be clear, I am far from an expert on French politics.

This is the 'Guardian', you don't need to be. They don't require anyone to know what they are talking about....

So am I part of the chicken shop left? I don’t know, maybe. But perhaps that’s the wrong question. After the almighty flap over Master Poulet, I’m left feeling that politics should be less “ruling the roost” and more “birds of a feather”. Especially with a far-right fox prowling outside the henhouse.

Oh, the mythic 'far right' again.  

Better Listen To Them!

Germans have demanded that their government restricts migration to prevent further attacks after an Afghan knifeman killed a police officer and stabbed five others at a political rally. Sulaiman Ataee, 25, launched a frenzied attack in Mannheim city centre on Friday, stabbing well-known Islam critic Michael Stuerzenberger, police officer Rueven L, 29, and several bystanders in a horrific incident which was live streamed on YouTube. Residents in the city in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg were outraged over the attack, with many demanding stricter rules on immigration.

Remember the last time the Germans got a bit stirred up? You can't really fail to, can you?  

Local resident Julia, 27, said her opinion on migration had changed following the deadly stabbing rampage last week. 'I'm now a lot more aware of the dangers of Islamistic terror after what happened on Friday and it made me think that we might need to draw a line to restrict immigration and decide whether people actually need asylum or not,' she told MailOnline.

'It makes me increasingly angry as well that our society is so open to migrants and takes everyone in, but then there's people who are radical and violent, so much so that a police officer gets killed. It is truly shocking.'

And it's not just the usual complainants this time, either: 

Even the left-leaning Green Party, after years of urging Germany to take in more asylum seekers, is calling for tougher measures against Islamic extremists.

When you've lost the Greens.... 

Frustrated pensioner Rolf said that he thinks that Germany and its government will be outraged over the death of Rouven L. for a week, but will return to normal after, with no changes to be made following the brutal attack. 'It is intolerable,' he said.'We can't take in the whole world, that just cannot work,' Rolf told MailOnline. The 70-year-old said he had noticed German public services taking a hit and attributed this to mass migration.'I went to hospital to get help with a hernia, but I only got an appointment three months later. 'There's just too many people that come here, it just cannot work and we need to do something about it,' he added.

Amazingly, the Germans are saying all the things we are saying, but their government is actually listening to them.  

Homeless woman Petra, 57, told MailOnline: Migrants have a right to be here, but I don't think it's right that some, not all, get more than the Germans that are here. 'There's Germans on the streets, like us. I think everyone should be treated equally.' She used to be €800 (£680) in debt, which spiralled into losing her flat and insurance. Petra is now homeless, and struggling to even afford medication like paracetamol in the pharmacy. 'You used to be able to get medications written up [onto your insurance], but now that's not the case. Everything's gotten really expensive. 'You start asking yourself whether open borders are worth this, Petra added. 'The country can't do it anymore. People have health issues and can't pay to treat them. it's about time the government does more for its people, for everyone.'

Indeed it is.  

What Happened To Beer & Bratwurst?

The soaring cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy programme to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable as politicians report it is frequently cited as a concern in doorstep conversations with voters.

Wow! I guess they must have no potholes in German roads, and no dog crap on their pavements either. 

The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has become so used to being asked about the price of kebabs during public appearances that his government has even posted on social media to explain that price rises are in part due to rising wage and energy costs. “It’s quite striking that everywhere I go, mainly from young people, I’m asked whether there shouldn’t be a price brake for the doner,” Scholz has said.

Ah, Are those 'young people' Hans & Helga in lederhosen, or perhaps something quite different? Go on, guess! 

The far-left Die Linke party has become the latest to seize on the topic, calling, in a proposal it wants to present to parliament, for the introduction of a Dönerpreisbremse or doner kebab price cap, similar to that introduced in some parts of the country to control high rents. It says kebabs are already €10 (£8.60) in some cities, rising from €4 just two years ago.The party recommends a €4.9o price cap, and €2.90 for young people, especially those from lower income backgrounds, for whom it argues the dish – thinly sliced grilled meat topped with finely chopped vegetables, garlic or chilli sauce, and cradled in a folded flatbread – is a daily staple. It suggests every household could receive daily doner vouchers.

Now, that's chutzpah, and proof German left-wing parties are even more deranged than UK ones! Who thought that was even possible?  

Hanna Steinmüller, an MP for the Greens, a party that more usually appeals to people to give up meat, addressed the issue in parliament earlier this year. “For young people right now it is an issue as important as where they will move when they leave home. I know it’s not an everyday issue for many people here,” she said to fellow MPs, “and that …it’s also something that might be ridiculed, but I think as voter representatives we are obliged to highlight these different perspectives”.

Oh, there's no 'might' about it, it'll be ridiculed all right! But it'll be whistling past the graveyard, as how long will it be until Germany's fate is echoed elsewhere in Europe?