French Pop Singer Slams Socialist Government

Johnny Hallyday says Left breeds "mediocrity"

Hallyday, 69, also claims to have almost taken on The Beatles as his backing musicians just before they hit the big time in his "book-confession" called Dans Mes Yeux (In My Eyes).

The singer, who despite being considered a national treasure is a Swiss tax resident, is the latest French public figure to attack the Socialist government of François Hollande, after the actor Gérard Depardieu moved to Belgium and took Russian nationality last month.

"I don't like mediocrity [and] I think the Left drives towards that. I am not for poor people being so. It's unfortunate and one must help them, but not by giving them handouts," said Hallyday, who has sold 110?million records and played live to 28?million people in his five-decade career.

"I don't like societies of assisted people. I don't like being passed off as a heartless guy just because I am Right-leaning," he told Amanda Sthers, a French writer.