Macron says both far-right, hard-left policies could lead to ‘civil war’ ahead of snap polls

FRANCE 24

24 June 2024 at 3:18 pm·1-min read

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday warned that the policies of his far-right and hard-left opponents could lead to “civil war”, as France prepared for its most divisive election in decades.

French politics were plunged into turmoil by Macron calling snap legislative elections after his centrist party was handily beaten by the far-right National Rally (RN) in a European vote earlier this month.

Weekend polls suggested the RN would win 35-36 percent in the first round on Sunday, ahead of a left-wing alliance on 27-29.5 percent and Macron’s centrists in third on 19.5-22 percent.

A second round of voting will follow on July 7 in constituencies where no candidate takes more than 50 percent in the first round.

Speaking on the podcast “Generation Do It Yourself”, Macron, 46, denounced both the RN as well as the hard-left France Unbowed party.

He said the far-right “divides and pushes towards civil war”, while the hard-left France Unbowed party, which is part of the New Popular Front alliance, proposes “a form of communitarianism”, adding that “civil war follows on from that, too”.

In calling an election in just three weeks Macron hoped to trip up his opponents and catch them unprepared.

HuffPost UK
Trevor Phillips Destroys Nigel Farage With One Devastating Question
The Reform UK leader rejected the accusation that his party is a home for racists.
The Telegraph
Labour vote share falls to lowest in more than two years
Labour’s vote share has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years ahead of the general election, new polling shows.
HuffPost UK
Rishi Sunak Left Squirming As He's Confronted With Ordinary People's Lives In Tory Britain
The prime minister had insisted life was "better" now than when the party came to power in 2010.
The Telegraph
Old, rich and living on benefits: welcome to the state pension capital of Britain
East Preston feels an unlikely stronghold of benefits dependency. The genteel village on the West Sussex coast might be the closest thing that Britain has to a moneyed pensioner utopia.
The Telegraph
Did Nigel Farage blow himself up in the BBC Question Time election special? Our writers react
It was finally Nigel Farage’s time to appear before a BBC Question Time audience this evening, more than a week after Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer had theirs. The Reform UK leader took the podium in the same hour as a Green Party representative, Adrian Ramsay. Yet only one of these men has excited reaction from our writers.
The Independent
Led by Donkeys interrupt Nigel Farage speech by lowering huge Putin banner
Nigel Farage was initially unaware that the Russian president was on the poster, with the words ‘I heart Nigel’ written below
The Daily Beast
Obama Rode to Biden’s Rescue—but Intervention Could Yet Come
On Friday afternoon, in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate against Donald Trump, private murmurs and public calls for an “intervention” ricocheted through Democratic circles. But then a hold-up emerged.Some 17 hours after Biden botched his big debate moment, his former boss came to the rescue.For many high-ranking Democrats, a single tweet from former President Barack Obama appeared to nix any chance of the 44th president meeting with the 46th and urging him to drop out.Rea
Manchester Evening News
'My mortgage has doubled... the country's gone to pot': The Greater Manchester neighbourhood where people want change
'I was born and bred here... I've never known the place be as big of a dump as it is'
Associated Press
A private call of top Democrats fuels more insider anger about Biden's debate performance
A sense of concern is growing inside the top ranks of the Democratic Party that leaders of Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not taking seriously enough the impact of the president’s troubling debate performance earlier in the week. DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party.
INSIDER
Biden meets family at Camp David as calls to exit the race grow
The meeting was pre-planned but is a timely opportunity for Biden to discuss the future of his campaign with the most influential people in his life.
PA Media: UK News
Rishi Sunak: I’ll still be Prime Minister on Friday
The Conservative leader defended his party’s record in government against what he described as a ‘declinist narrative’.
Business Insider
A grinding Russian assault appears telling about Putin's plan to defeat Ukraine
ISW's conflict experts warned that the West must "challenge Putin's belief that he can gradually subsume Ukraine."
The Telegraph
Joe Biden cannot run again
After Thursday night’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, held on terms considered by many to be favourable to the current President, there is only one conclusion that it is possible to draw: Mr Biden should not run again for the US presidency in November.
CNN
A year ago, she drank battery acid to escape life under the Taliban. Today, she has a message for other Afghan girls
Arzo survived a suicide attempt but now faces a new threat that could send her family – and millions like them – back to Afghanistan and a life that has become so intolerable for women and girls that some would rather die.
The Telegraph
France records highest turnout in 40 years during Macron’s gamble election
France is on course to record its largest election turnout in over four decades in a battle between the hard-Right and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition.
The Guardian
‘A lot of people haven’t stood up to the forces of darkness’: Anna Soubry on her mission to make Starmer PM
The former minister opens up about her ex-colleagues, her infamous Nigel Farage impression, and why she’ll do anything to help Sir Keir succeed
The Guardian
Who could replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader if he loses the election?
Likely contenders for party’s sixth leader in eight years could depend partly on who survives a big defeat
The Telegraph
Jill Biden has the fate of the world in her hands
Now might be a good time for Dr Jill Biden, the First Lady, to have a rummage around in the back of the wardrobe for one particular item of clothing. When Joe Biden opted against running for president in 2004, his decision was underlined by his wife’s decision to wear a halter top with the word “NO” scrawled on her stomach.
HuffPost UK
A Rupert Murdoch Newspaper Has Endorsed Labour In Another Blow For Rishi Sunak
It is the first time it has done so since Tony Blair was prime minister.
The Telegraph
‘Trillion dollar trainwreck’: US super stealth fighter is eating the next generation
All of a sudden, the US Air Force is considering cancelling a multibillion-dollar effort to develop a new stealth fighter. Citing the high cost of the so-called “Next-Generation Air Dominance” programme and the competing demands of other projects, USAF leaders have warned they may have no choice but to cancel NGAD – and find other ways of winning control of the air in future wars.

Latest stories