U.K News

Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet

Published

7 months ago

2024-06-10

Kiara Grace

Macron | AP News Image

The extreme right’s surge in France’s European Parliament elections was largely expected. What occurred next was not.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced early parliamentary elections, saying he couldn’t ignore the new political reality after his pro-European party suffered a humiliating defeat and is expected to receive less than half the support of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally.

He expects people to work together to limit the far right in national elections, as in European ones.

However, Sunday’s decision to dissolve parliament and send voters who had recently shown dissatisfaction with Macron’s ideology to the polls was a hazardous move that could result in the French extreme right running a government for the first time since WWII.

Macron | AP News Image

Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet

Macron, who has three years left in his second and final presidential term, would have to find a way to collaborate with a prime minister from a party that strongly rejects most of his programs.

Here are the reasons for the shift.

How did French voters cast their votes?
The far-right National Rally, led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, is expected to gain the most French seats in the European Parliament, potentially 30 of France’s 81, according to a provisional count, with more than 30% of the vote.

That would be the culmination of a makeover campaign aimed at appealing to centrist voters in the wake of decades of racist and antisemitic sentiments made by National Front leaders.

According to the most recent projections, Macron’s Renaissance party has fewer than 15% of the vote, only ahead of the Socialists, whom the French president thought he had eliminated from the political landscape when he was elected president in 2017.

The communist France Unbowed party might come in fourth place with roughly 10% of the vote, while the conservative Républicains could get about 7%.

Why did Macron call the French election?
Macron’s centrist party was the largest in the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament, but it lost its majority in 2022, forcing parliamentarians to collaborate with politicians from both the left and right to pass legislation.

According to his aides, in the wake of the extreme right’s resounding success in the European elections, Macron called the election because he believed the results would lead to legislative stalemate and render him a lame duck leader three years before the next presidential election in 2027.

Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, emphasized the president’s desire to demonstrate his responsiveness to voters. “We are told too often that we do not hear, that we are cut off from the people, and there, the president took a decision following a very clear vote by the French,” Braun-Pivet stated on Monday.

What are the risks?
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné stated that Macron’s decision to call elections is not “a poker move.” However, with a bitterly fragmented left and millions of voters no longer afraid of National Rally’s agenda, counting on a popular uprising against the extreme right three weeks before the election appears to be a high-risk gamble.

Macron | AP News Image

Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet

The National Rally, with its anti-immigrant agenda, has grown to become the largest parliamentary opposition group in the lower chamber. Le Pen has advanced to the second round of the presidential election twice, following in the footsteps of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2002. The normalization campaign has paid effectively, and the party has become mainstream, with a solid network of officials throughout France.

The two-round system for general elections has historically made it difficult for extremist parties to gain traction since mainstream parties collaborate to isolate those on the periphery. But that method might not work this time. In the most recent general election, Le Pen’s National Rally gained more than ten times as many seats as it did five years before.

Francois Ruffin, a far-left politician, has called on all left-wing leaders, including the Greens, to unify under a single “Popular Front” banner. “To avoid the worse, to win,” he wrote on social media platform X. Others on the left proposed similar cooperation.

However, Raphaël Glucksmann, the lead Socialist candidate, accused Macron of giving in to the National Rally’s demands for the dissolution of the National Assembly. He stated that the action “will remain a stain on Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, one more,” and criticized the French president for what he considers an “extremely dangerous” game.

Le Pen is riding high.
Le Pen stated she is “ready to turn the country around” after sending Macron into a tailspin.

“We are ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections,” she told party supporters in Paris.

For years, Le Pen has been the face of the National Rally. However, she stepped back before the European elections, making space for Bardella. The president of Le Pen’s party has now brought it to the threshold of power.

Macron | AP News Image

Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet

Bardella rose quickly to the top after polishing his political talents as president of the party’s youth branch. Although he has been cautious about eclipsing Le Pen, his popularity is growing rapidly, particularly among young people.

On the campaign road, Bardella was frequently greeted like a rock star, with crowds of shouting admirers vying to kiss him or take a selfie.

What happens next?
If another party or alliance wins a majority of seats in the general election, Macron must select a prime minister from that new majority.

In this circumstance, known as “cohabitation” in France, the administration would enact domestic policies that differed from the president’s strategy. However, the French president would significantly influence the country’s foreign and defense policies. Such an arrangement may render France ungoverned.

SOURCE – AP

U.K News

Keir Starmer Rejects Meeting With WW2 Veteran Over Her Frozen Pension

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-12-04

Geoff Brown

Anne Puckridge, orld War Two veteran, state pension

"It's the injustice of it that is so unfair, the fact that we were never warned."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has rejected a request from a 99-year-old WW2 for a meeting to discuss the frozen state pension policy for citizens living abroad. Starmer declined the meeting but offered an alternative meeting with Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds.

Anne Puckridge, who turns 100 this month, went from her home in Canada to agitate Keir Starmer’s Labour government over the state pension freeze.

The World War II veteran told the BBC that she is “angry” and “heartbroken” following a meeting with the pensions minister, who led her to believe that the government will not reconsider its policy of freezing the state pensions of some British people living abroad.

Anne Puckridge is one of approximately 453,000 British retirees living overseas who do not receive an annual increase in their state pension.

Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds agreed to a meeting after Sir Keir Starmer’s request to meet was denied owing to purported “pressures on his diary.”

Ms. Puckridge stated that the meeting in Parliament left her feeling “bitterly disappointed” and “disgusted”.

She stated that she had the idea Reynolds had been “polite enough and kind enough to come in and spend her time with her,” but that her mind had already been made up before the meeting began.

Ms Puckridge stated that she and her other campaigners would have to think carefully about what they could do from now on, but she assured them that they would take action.

State Pension Minister Reynolds thanked Ms Puckridge for the meeting and for sharing her insights.

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) representative stated that the government recognizes that “people move abroad for various reasons, and we provide clear information on how this can affect their pensions.”

The policy of increasing the UK state pension for recipients living abroad has existed for many years.

Since she relocated to Canada in 2001 at the age of 76 to live closer to her daughter, Ms Puckridge has received £72.50 (C$129.00) per week.

Her state pension is now less than half the £169.50 (C$302.00) paid to seniors still residing in the United Kingdom. She told the BBC that frozen pensions touch all aspects of life.

“You’ve got to be careful about entertainment,” she told me. “You must realize that you cannot be as kind to your grandkids as you would like.

“You feel you’ve lost all sense of dignity, the government has thrown you away, you know, out of sight out of mind.”

Ms. Puckridge stated that when she alerted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that she was moving to Canada, “they never said a word about [my] pension being frozen”.

“The first I knew about it was when my first rise was due,” she recalled.

“I didn’t understand it. So I wrote and enquired about it, and I was told no… you will not receive any additional pension rises when you leave the UK.” She said, “It’s the injustice of it that is so unfair, the fact that we were never warned.”

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U.K News

Air Force Drones Spotted Over UK Military Bases

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-11-29

Geoff Brown

Air Force Drones Spotted Over UK Military Bases

The drones were not considered hostile, the USAF said,

British military expertise has been brought in to assist in identifying persons responsible for flying Air Force drones near US military locations. According to the BBC, 60 RAF troops have been dispatched to assist the US Air Force with its probe.

The Air Force drones were not deemed hostile, according to the USAF, who added that the sightings “fluctuated and varied between the bases” and “ranged in sizes and configurations”.

According to the Ministry of Defence, “We are supporting the US Air Force response.”

The announcement follows several recent reports of unmanned aerial vehicles sighted near RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and RAF Feltwell in adjacent Norfolk.

There have been other reports of drone activity overnight. According to the USAF, the vehicles were few in number and modest in size.

A representative for the US Air Forces in Europe stated, “We can confirm that there were sightings yesterday during nighttime hours, but the number fluctuated and varied between the bases throughout the night.”

The official stated that since the first sightings on November 20th, there has been “no impact on residents or infrastructure, and they have not been identified as hostile.”

However, the Air Force drones remained under surveillance “to ensure the safety and security of the installations.”

They said, “We request individuals in the area to contact either local police or security forces if they see anything suspicious.”

‘Treat threats seriously’

Officials in the United States and the United Kingdom have not said who is responsible for the recent drone activity.

However, the BBC understands there were worries that a state actor could be involved.

In recent months, intelligence officials have warned of increasing Russian sabotage operations against Western countries supporting Ukraine.

RAF Mildenhall is primarily home to the USAF’s 100th Air Refuelling Wing; RAF Lakenheath is home to USAF F-35A and F-15E fighter jets; and RAF Feltwell is mainly concerned with logistics and provides housing for military personnel.

A spokesman for the MoD, which owns the bases, said: “We take threats seriously and maintain robust measures at defence sites.

“We are supporting the US Air Force response.”

The USAF has not said who it believed to be behind the incidents.

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U.K News

General Election Petition in UK Hits 2 Million Signatures

Published

4 weeks ago

2024-11-26

Geoff Brown

Starmer has ruled out an general election after a petition reached two million signatures

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out holding an early general election after a petition calling for a second vote garnered two million signatures.

Over the weekend, a petition calling for another general election was started on the UK Parliament website. It cited Starmer’s failure to keep all his pledges made in the run-up to the previous election. By Monday mid-morning, it had surpassed two million signatures.

When asked about the petition, Starmer said he was “not surprised” that some individuals who did not vote for Labour in the previous election want a “re-run” of the poll.

He claimed that he had “inherited a lot of problems” from the previous administration and had resolved to “take the hard decisions first.”

Starmer ruled out an early general election, stating that only the Prime Minister can request that the King call a general election; it simply will not happen, he said.

This petition, started last week and sponsored by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, calls on the government to schedule a new general election.
To sign a petition, you must verify that you are a British citizen or resident and provide a postcode.

The petition states, “I would prefer there to be another general election. I believe the present Labour government has broken the pledges they made before the last election.”

The petition comes only five months after Labour won the July general election with 9.7 million votes and 412 seats in the House of Commons.

However, the Labour Party garnered only 35% of the vote, the lowest percentage gained by a single-party administration since the conclusion of WWII.

Some of the policies implemented by Starmer and his Labour government have received significant criticism, including an inheritance tax on farms, a reduction in winter heating payments, an increase in employers’ national insurance, and applying VAT to private school fees.

According to the most recent Ipsos political pulse poll, the Labour Party is unpopular, with 28% of the public favoring it and 49% opposing it.