Jacques Chirac tells his people, “you are so lucky you are not British.”

PRESIDENT CHIRAC sought to regain favour with his worried nation yesterday by telling the French that they are far better off than the British and have no reason to take lessons from across the Channel.

The head of state’s focus on Britain would normally have seemed out of place in his traditional Bastille Day television interview, but this year M Chirac could not avoid France’s theme of the season as he grapples with record unpopularity. London’s victory in the race for the 2012 Olympics was the final straw in what France sees as a period of British superiority in the ancestral Anglo-French duel.

After leading the silence for the London bombings at an Élysée Palace garden party, M Chirac was asked about France’s losing streak and what is seen as Britain’s triumphant prosperity under Tony Blair.

He said: “I have a lot of esteem for the British people and for Tony Blair. But I do not think the British model is one that we should envy.

“Certainly, their unemployment is lower than ours. But if you take the big elements in society — health policy, the fight against poverty, . . . spending involving the future — you notice that we are much, much better placed than the English.”

Maybe he’s been reading Daniel Pipes.