The UK will spend nearly half a billion pounds over the next three years to help fund a new detention centre in France, as part of a new deal agreed today between the PM and French President Emmanuel Macron. According to Number 10, the new detention centre will increase French detention capacity, meaning migrants who might otherwise try crossing the channel will be “removed from the French coast“:
“For the first time, the UK will help fund a detention centre in France to enhance the country’s ability to cope with the level of people being trafficked across the Channel. This new centre will support French efforts to increase detention capacity, allowing more migrants who might otherwise travel by dangerous and illegal routes to the UK to be removed from the French coast.”
The package will also see an increased French patrol presence along the coast, with “enhanced technology and insights” – including drones – to stop more crossings. At the time of going to pixel, Rishi and Macron are up in front of the press extolling the virtues of their renewed friendship, hailing a “new beginning” for the two countries. It’s all smiles, although it remains to be seen whether any of this will be effective. “Merci, mon ami”…
The London stock market has re-overtaken Paris’s after falling behind for 10 days, with a lead of $63 billion. A 2.5% rally in the value of the pound led to the improvement, and morale booster, compared to a modest 0.7% improvement for the Euro.
Pardonnez-nous, nos amis grenouilles…
Hat-tip: Bloomberg
Official exit poll results:
Emmanuel Macron: 58.2%
Marine Le Pen: 41.8%
A 16-point lead for Macron, versus a 32-point win back in 2017…
As if the race for the Presidency of France couldn’t get any tighter, Macron’s three-point lead from Tuesday has closed even further. A poll out this morning for the New Statesman now puts the gap down to just two percent, with Macron on 51% to Le Pen’s 49%.
A different poll out yesterday afternoon had the gap even closer, with just 1% between the two. The campaign period for the first round ends at midnight tonight, with voters going to the polls on Sunday. A real nail biter…
Marine Le Pen’s poll ratings reached an all time high last night, as one poll put her within just three points of Macron on 48.5% to his 51.5%. Margin of error stuff…
The poll, just one week ahead of the first round, reflects what has been a shaky period for incumbent Macron who has been losing momentum to Le Pen. A first-round poll also has Le Pen in a close second, with 23% to Macron’s 26.5%. The support of third-place hard-leftist Melenchon could be a decider here…
Zooming out from this single data point, while Macron’s Ukraine boost has halved he still remains well ahead in the poll of polls; though according to research by Ifop, only 12% would like to “barbecue with” Macron at a campsite versus 19% for Le Pen. They don’t specify whether the candidates would be guests or on the menu…
President Macron has declared his Covid strategy is to now “piss off” the unvaccinated, by making their daily lives more almost impossible to continue. An interview with Le Parisien yesterday saw Macron declare:
“I am not about pissing off the French people, but as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy.”
“In a democracy, the worst enemies are lies and stupidity. We are putting pressure on the unvaccinated by limiting, as much as possible, their access to activities in social life.”
As of seven days ago, four million eligible French people are currently un-jabbed…
The French parliament is currently debating a bill that will not only discount a negative Covid test as sufficient qualification to enter venues, it will prevent non-fully vaccinated people accessing places like cafes, restaurants, cinemas, museums, concert venues and sporting arenas. They’d also be prevented from boarding trains and planes. It shouldn’t be too difficult to piss off just four million of his citizens, Macron’s been pissing off far higher numbers constantly since his election…
