Nope. I'm sure I remember got spending in France being a bit above 60% of gdp compared with something nearer 40 in UK.
France is at about 56%, the UK at about 41%.
We moved to France 30 years ago, and although there is much about the country that drives me nuts (in particular, it's really not friendly to small business) there is undoubtedly something very agreeable about the way of life. The proof of the pudding is that we're still here; if we didn't like it, we'd be long gone.
I know that I pay a lot of tax in France, but then at least I feel that a lot of the important stuff works. In particular, the excellent health service offers patients real choice. The state education system can be first class; my kids went to a local Lycée which is generally considered to be one of the top 10 schools in the country; there is no apology in such a school for the pursuit of excellence (which often appears to be derided as elitism in the UK system).
Had we lived in the UK; I feel pretty sure that much of the money I saved in tax would have gone on private school fees and private health insurance.
Just like Chris R, the one thing I really missed was proper beer, which was one of the things which inspired me to change career and to open my first pub in Paris back in 1995 and to start importing Adnams' excellent Suffolk ales.......
