French Left wants to welcome migrant boats and create special status for climate refugees

France will help migrants cross the Mediterranean and give special status to climate refugees if Left-wing parties win the elections on Sunday.

The New Popular Front brings together hard-Left, Green, communist and centre-Left parties in a coalition promising a “total break” with President Emmanuel Macron’s policies.

It came second to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally on Sunday in the first round of the snap parliamentary election. The second round for the National Assembly is being held on July 7.

Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen both backed tough new restrictions on migration last December.

But the New Popular Front has vowed to repeal laws including those delaying welfare payments to migrants and introducing migration quotas.

It will guarantee French citizenship to migrants’ children born in France, which the December law restricted.

A new status would be created for “climate-displaced persons” and illegal immigrants would also be given access to healthcare, according to the group’s manifesto.

It also wants to revise reforms to EU asylum rules to ensure “a dignified welcome for migrants”.

The sea and land rescue agency for migrants would be set up at a European level, the joint programme for the Left-wing bloc said.

Mr Macron has described the coalition’s manifesto as “totally immigrationist” but it stretches far further than migration.

Net zero

The manifesto calls for a new climate plan to hit net zero by 2050 and a moratorium on new motorways on environmental grounds.

Nuclear power, which is controversial on the Left, is not mentioned in the programme but renewable and tidal energy is, as well as measures to lower fares on public transport.

The New Popular Front wants a ban on the herbicide glyphosate and the pesticide neonicotinoids, which kills bees. Farmers affected will get financial support.

It also wants ecocide to be recognised as a crime and advocates the creation of an international court of environmental justice.

Israel and Ukraine

The hard-Left France Unbowed party (LFI) and centre-Left Socialist Party managed to patch up their differences on the divisive subject of the war in Gaza in the coalition talks.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the LFI leader, is seen as soft on Hamas and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

But the New Popular Front called for continued arms deliveries to Ukraine. It also pledged to push for the cancellation of Ukrainian foreign debt, the seizure of oligarchs’ assets and sending peacekeepers to secure nuclear power stations.

The manifesto promises to support the International Criminal Court in its prosecution of Hamas leaders and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

It also calls for the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine, a ceasefire in Gaza, and for sanctions on Israel for breaking international law, including an embargo on arms deliveries.

While the New Popular Front says the hostages held by Hamas must be freed, it also wants to end French support “for Netanyahu’s extreme Right-wing supremacist government”

Equality

People undergoing gender transition should get access to fertility treatments for the first time, the New Popular Front said.

They would also be allowed to change their status on the civil register for free and the group would launch an effort to “to eradicate violence against LGBTQI people”.

Inter-ministerial plans to combat anti-Semitism and Islamophobia will also be launched.

The manifesto calls for equal pay between men and women and for the right for women to have leave during their periods. It earmarks €2.6 billion (£2.2 billion) to combat sexist and sexual violence.

Retirement and cost of living

The New Popular Front will reverse Mr Macron’s raising of the retirement age to 64 and “reaffirm the common objective of the right to retire at 60”.

It wants to bring back early retirement for jobs deemed physically or mentally arduous, which were abolished by Mr Macron, and introduce surcharges on high salaries.

The group wants to index-link pensions to wages and inflation.

The price of certain food products, energy and fuel will be frozen by decree.

The minimum wage will be raised from €1,399 net per month to €1,600 (£1,356). The disability allowance will be raised to the new minimum wage from the current maximum of €1,016.05.

Income tax will increase from a five-tiered system to 14 which will mean lower earners paying less tax.

The group also intends to restore the wealth tax abolished by Mr Macron, close tax loopholes and introduce a maximum inheritance. It also wants to increase inheritance tax.

Schools and housing

The New Popular Front wants to reduce class sizes to fewer than the European average of 19 pupils per class.

It has set itself a target of “building 200,000 public housing units a year for five years to the most ambitious ecological standards”.

It plans to introduce compulsory rent controls in some areas and abolish a law facilitating evictions and increasing penalties for squatters.

And the rest…

The New Popular Front wants to introduce proportional representation to the National Assembly and free admission to national museums.

The art and culture budget will be increased to 1 per cent of GDP, according to the manifesto, which also calls for more hiring across public services such as health care.

Public broadcasting will be guaranteed and measures taken to prevent the media being controlled by a small number of individuals.