a076  0703  14 Jul 89
PM-French-British Flap,0573
Thatcher Remarks Renew France and Britain Rivalry
By MAUREEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
    PARIS (AP) - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher set off
fireworks of her own at the celebrations marking the 200th
anniversary of the French revolution, saying the overthrow of the
French monarchy was by no means the founding of the concept of human
rights.
    In an interview with the Paris daily Le Monde just prior to the
summit, Mrs. Thatcher said the concept of human rights was enshrined
far earlier than the revolution in the British Magna Carta of 1215
and in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
    The prime minister also mentioned ''our Glorious Revolution in 1688
when Parliament imposed its will on the monarchy.''
    The response on both sides of the English Channel has been loud and
angry with boos for Mrs. Thatcher as she arrived in Paris, criticism
from French Premier Michel Rocard and claims from one opposition
British politician that she's ''gone mad.''
    In a chilly interview to be screened on British television later
today, France's socialist Premier Michel Rocard reportedly attacks
the British Conservative Party leader by referring to the ''current
trend toward social cruelty in Britain.''
    On Thursday, scattered booes mingled with applause, greeted Mrs.
Thatcher when she arrived for the bicentennial celebrations. ''Sounds
just like home,'' quipped a senior Thatcher aide who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
    Asked about the atmosphere between Mrs. Thatcher and French
President Francois Mitterrand during the festivities, the spokesman
said simply, ''Very good.''
    Britain's opposition socialist Labor Party, which has a strong lead
over Mrs. Thatcher in domestic poll ratings, today accused her of
making an ''eccentric spectacle'' of herself with her ''offensive''
comments about the French Revolution.
    ''Such conduct is of course extremely offensive to the French people
who are taking part in an historic national celebration,'' Labor's
foriegn affairs spokesman Gerald Kaufman said in a statement issued
in London.
    ''It is even more worrying for the British people who are concerned
for the serious problems this country faces after 10 years of
Thatcherism and who now watch with incredulity as the British prime
minister makes an eccentric spectacle of herself in front of the
world,'' added Kaufman.
    ''I can only conclude that Mrs. Tahtcher sees herself as a 20th
century Marie Antoinette who, faced with the justified complaint of
the electorate she misrule, airily replies: 'Let them eat pate' .''
    Kaufman said he wondered if Mrs. Thatcher ''has gone mad. Her
extraordinary behavior in Paris indicates that she would do well to
seek urgent psychiatric help.''
    Headlines in the British press proclaimed ''Booing Greets Thatcher
in Paris feud,'' and ''The Storming of Maggie by Angry French,''
while the newspaper The Express suggested that tempest has sent
''relations between Britain and France plummeting to a new low.''
    Mrs. Thatcher's remarks underlined the long history of checkered
relations between France and Britain, long time friends and rivals.
    In fact, the very conservative leader of Britain's Conservative
Party was not alone in her assessment.
    Norman Stone, a professor of modern history at Oxford University,
wrote in today's Daily Telegraph that Mrs. Thatcher ''to her very
great credit, has taken a robust and British view of the French
Revolution, telling Le Monde how much superior our own tradition is
to all of the waffle, sentimentality and mayhem that July 14 really
symbolizes.''
    
 
AP-NY-07-14-89 0950EDT
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