Latest news with #National Rally
France 24
3 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
French papers divided over PM Bayrou's 'shock treatment' budget
In France, the newly proposed 2026 budget is dividing right- and left-wing papers. "Bayrou has nothing to lose," says the headline of financial daily Les Echos, pleased to see the prime minister doing what nobody believed he would do. Right-wing Le Figaro calls the budget "shock treatment" that is necessary if France wants to avoid a financial catastrophe. Pro-business paper L'Opinion writes that "Bayrou bets on austerity". The paper praises the prime minister's gamble, saying that it helps make the French aware of the gravity of the financial situation. Left-wing papers have a different opinion, though. Communist daily L'Humanité calls it "the purge budget", saying that the proposition only spares the richest people and the biggest companies. "Bayrou in debt", reads the headline of left-wing Libération. The paper calls the budget "a bitter prescription", turning all the opposition parties against him. A similar tone is seen in centre-left daily Le Monde which says that the plan, including the proposed elimination of two public holidays, "has been strongly criticised by the left" but also by the far-right National Rally party. We turn next to the UK, a major data leak has put thousands of Afghans in danger and triggered their evacuation to Britain. British paper The Independent calls it a "catastrophic data breach", adding that the official behind the leak hasn't been fired for his blunder. The Financial Times says this is "one of the gravest security lapses in history". The whole leak had to be kept secret for two years by officials and the media who knew about the case. The Independent explains that this was done because of superjunctions used by the British Ministry of Defence. These are legal or so-called gagging orders that prevent a person or publication from reporting information. This means that anyone who shared any information about the case could be found in contempt of court. The gagging order was without precedent and a first in English legal history. The Telegraph reports that the British government said the secrecy was needed to keep the data from the Taliban. But the paper interviewed a senior Taliban official who said they had the "kill list" shortly after the original leak and they've been "hunting down" the people on it ever since. An analysis in the left-wing paper The Guardian says that the UK "let down Afghans who believed in Britain's promises". Hiding the leak means that they couldn't even make an "informed decision about their security". Turning to Africa, Doctors Without Borders has accused Ethiopia of brutal violence against humanitarian workers during its civil war. The New York Times reports that three aid workers were "intentionally killed" in 2021. Their bodies pierced by bullets were found on a remote road in June 2021, during the peak of the brutal civil war in the Tigray region. Meanwhile, French centre-left paper Le Monde writes that there's a "silence around the mass rapes" committed during the war in Ethiopia. Between 2020 and 2022, 120,000 women were raped, it says. Finally, emerging child stars have been making headlines. Vanity Fair gives us a first look at HBO's new Harry Potter. His name is Dominic McLaughlin. The 11-year-old was chosen among 30,000 other children who wanted to become "The Boy Who Lived". Another child star, Owen Cooper from the hit TV show "Adolescence", has been nominated in the outstanding supporting actor category at the Emmys, making him the youngest actor ever nominated in the category, according to The New York Times. He is only 15 years old. The show got 13 nominations in total after it resonated with audiences around the world.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Minister is keen to cut two bank holidays – which ones and why
France 's Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou, has proposed eliminating two public holidays, potentially including Easter Monday and Allied victory day, to generate savings for the 2026 budget. This controversial measure is part of a broader fiscal plan aiming to achieve an estimated €44 billion in overall savings to address France's substantial debt and deficit. Mr Bayrou argues that scrapping holidays would boost economic activity and tax revenues, aligning with President Emmanuel Macron 's directive to repair public finances. Easter Monday and Victory Day were among the holidays discussed The proposals face significant opposition from unions and the far-right National Rally, complicating their passage through a hung parliament where Macron's centrist grouping lacks a majority.
The Independent
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Why France's prime minister wants to scrap two public holidays
France 's Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays, potentially including Easter Monday and the Allied victory day, to generate savings for next year's budget. This controversial move is part of a wider package of spending cuts outlined in his ambitious fiscal plan. Mr Bayrou argues that eliminating the holidays would boost economic activity, yielding tax revenues that contribute to an estimated €44 billion ($51.3 billion) in overall savings. The proposal follows President Emmanuel Macron 's directive for a budget that tackles France's significant debt and deficit. This cost-cutting drive is balanced against a simultaneous increase in defence spending, which Mr Macron states is vital to address "resurgent threats from Russia and beyond". Bayrou questioned the religious importance of Easter Monday. As well as this, he discussed Victory Day, celebrated on May 8, which comes in a month that has become a 'veritable Gruyere,' or holey cheese, of days off that includes May Day and the Catholic holiday of Ascension. He said that those holidays were just suggestions, and that he was open to other ideas. France currently has 11 official holidays per year. With no parliamentary majority, Macron's centrist grouping must win support from adversaries on the left and right to pass the budget this fall. Bayrou's proposals, which are just a first step in the budget process, were quickly assailed by unions and the far-right National Rally, the largest single party in the lower house of Parliament. Bayrou's job is precarious, and he could be voted out if he fails to reach compromise on the budget. President Emmanuel Macron has left Bayrou the task of repairing the public finances with the 2026 budget, after his own move to call a snap legislative election last year delivered a hung parliament too divided to tackle the country's spiralling spending. If he fails, a new political crisis could trigger more credit ratings' downgrades and drive up the cost of interest payments, which are already set to become the single biggest drain on the budget at over 60 billion euros. In the final two years of his second term, the dramatic deterioration of the public finances, which has left France with the biggest budget deficit in the euro zone, may tarnish Macron's legacy. Then a political outsider, he was first elected in 2017 on promises to break the right-left divide and modernise the euro zone's second-biggest economy with growth-friendly tax cuts and reforms. Successive crises - from protests, COVID-19 and runaway inflation - have shown he has failed to change the country's overspending habit, however. Bayrou aims to reduce the budget deficit from 5.4% of GDP this year to 4.6% in 2026, ultimately targeting the EU's 3% fiscal deficit limit by 2029. "It's the last stop before the cliff, before we are crushed by the debt," Bayrou said on Tuesday.
Al Arabiya
19 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
France's prime minister wants to cut 2 public holidays to save money for the indebted economy
France's prime minister proposed on Tuesday the elimination of two public holidays from the country's annual calendar–possibly Easter Monday and the day marking the Allied victory over the Nazis–to save money in next year's budget. That's among a raft of spending cuts laid out by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in a sweeping and potentially doomed budget plan. He argued that removing two state holidays would bring in tax revenues generated from economic activity, contributing to around 44 billion euros (51.3 billion) in overall savings. President Emmanuel Macron tasked Bayrou with crafting a budget that shaves costs to bring down France's staggering debt and deficit–while also adding billions in new defense spending to face what Macron says are resurgent threats from Russia and beyond. Bayrou questioned the religious importance of Easter Monday, and Victory Day celebrated on May 8 comes in a month that has become a veritable Gruyere or holey cheese of days off that includes May Day and the Catholic holiday of Ascension, he said. He said that those holidays were just suggestions and that he was open to other ideas. France currently has 11 official holidays per year. With no parliamentary majority, Macron's centrist grouping must win support from adversaries on the left and right to pass the budget this fall. Bayrou's proposals, which are just a first step in the budget process, were quickly assailed by unions and the far-right National Rally, the largest single party in the lower house of Parliament. Bayrou's job is precarious, and he could be voted out if he fails to reach compromise on the budget.
The Independent
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
France's prime minister wants to cut 2 public holidays to save money for the indebted economy
France's prime minister proposed on Tuesday the elimination of two public holidays from the country's annual calendar — possibly Easter Monday and the day marking the Allied victory over the Nazis — to save money in next year's budget. That's among a raft of spending cuts laid out by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in a sweeping, and potentially doomed, budget plan. He argued that removing two state holidays would bring in tax revenues generated from economic activity, contributing to around 44 billion euros ($51.3 billion) in overall savings. President Emmanuel Macron tasked Bayrou with crafting a budget that shaves costs to bring down France's staggering debt and deficit — while also adding billions in new defense spending to face what Macron says are resurgent threats from Russia and beyond. Bayrou questioned the religious importance of Easter Monday. And Victory Day, celebrated on May 8, comes in a month that has become a 'veritable Gruyere,' or holey cheese, of days off that includes May Day and the Catholic holiday of Ascension, he said. He said that those holidays were just suggestions, and that he was open to other ideas. France currently has 11 official holidays per year. With no parliamentary majority, Macron's centrist grouping must win support from adversaries on the left and right to pass the budget this fall. Bayrou's proposals, which are just a first step in the budget process, were quickly assailed by unions and the far-right National Rally, the largest single party in the lower house of Parliament. Bayrou's job is precarious, and he could be voted out if he fails to reach compromise on the budget.
