[Tubby Isaacs]

By a strange coincidence, this 8% seem highly overrepresented in British media.

[Youngian]

Perhaps Le Pen would like to step up to manage the deficit crisis.

France has been plunged into a new political crisis with the defeat of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou at a confidence vote in the National Assembly.

The defeat – by 364 votes to 194 – means that Bayrou will tomorrow present his government’s resignation to President Macron, who must now decide how to replace him. Macron’s office said this would happen “in the coming days”.

France is thus en route to getting its fifth prime minister in less than two years – a dismal record that underscores the drift and disenchantment that have marked President Macron’s second term.

Bayrou’s fall came after he staked his government on an emergency confidence debate centred on the question of French debt.

He spent the summer in speeches, interviews and social media posts warning of the “existential” threat to France if it did not start to tackle its 3.4 trillion euro liability.

But he was quickly disabused of any hope that his prophesies of financial doom would sway opponents. Lacking any majority in the National Assembly, Bayrou saw the left and hard-right uniting against him – and his fate was sealed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5yqgnzw759t

[Tubby Isaacs]

Le Pen and Melenchon can work it out between them by abolishing neoliberalism.

[Youngian]

It’s their groupings that pulled the plug on Bayou so I assume they want to hold the shitcan.
Jean Luc’s promises of early retirement for all and Le Pen’s pledge to abolish income tax for the under 30s (along with whatever other goodies they’ve written out on a Gauloises packet) aren’t likely to impress bond markets.

[Tubby Isaacs]

When you look at this stuff, you can understand the "never let a crisis go to waste" thing. Austerity Spain was way harsher than the UK's austerity, and must have done a fair bit of unnecessary damage. Hollande and Macron by contrast did mostly incremental stuff, and protected living standards much better, but whereas Spain is now praised (not least by the Left) France has got stuck. It's a cautionary tale for us "technocratic centrists".

[Boiler]

I see Sarkozy's got himself five years in the slammer... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp98kepmj9lo

[Bones McCoy]

I observe that those wokes the Clooneys have gone over to the French...

George Clooney, wife Amal and their twins awarded French citizenship

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q4ezpepdvo

US actor George Clooney, his wife, human rights lawyer Amal and their two children have been awarded French citizenship, the government said.

The family's new citizenship was made public in the Journal Officiel, where French government decrees are published.

Their farm in Brignoles, in the south of France, serves as the family's primary residence. The couple purchased the home in 2021.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

France has placed a 'territorial ban' on 10 Brits who were essentially travelling to France to bully and intimidate asylum seekers:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... he-colours

France’s interior ministry has announced a ban on 10 British anti-migrant activists who travelled to the country.

Officials said they took action after reports that members of the Raise the Colours movement had conducted anti-migrant activities in France.

On Tuesday, “territorial bans were issued against 10 British nationals, identified as activists within the movement and having carried out actions on French soil”, the interior ministry said.

In a post on X it said: “Our rule of law is non-negotiable. Violent and hate-inciting tactics have no place in our territory.”

Le Monde (translated)

On Tuesday, following reports that members of the "Raise the Colours" movement had conducted anti-migrant actions in France, "territorial bans were issued against 10 British nationals, identified as activists within the movement and having carried out actions on French soil," it said. The French authorities did not immediately give the identities of the 10 people.

A social media account called "Raise the Colours Operation France" late last year posted videos of far-right activists on France's northern coastline. In one video posted in November, an activist filmed himself on a French beach, saying he had found a small inflatable boat buried in the sand and had slashed it. "That is not going to England," says the man, who elsewhere has called himself Ryan Bridge.
In another post published earlier the same month, he wades into the sea, and shouts at what looks like dozens of undocumented migrants boarding an inflatable dinghy on their way to England. "You're not welcome in our country," he says.

[Abernathy]

For fuck’s sake. The arseholes have moved on from painting flags on mini roundabouts to crossing the channel to duff up asylum seekers ?

These wankers are beneath contempt.

[Youngian]

Is Polanski correct who claimed these migrants aren't even allowed onto the rail station to travel to Lille or Paris?
And his description of the regular French police harassment make the antics of Tommeh's divvies sound like small beer.