Le Pen has to understand this unhappy scenario could be about to become reality
Le Pen has to understand this unhappy scenario could be about to become reality
It can be hard to take Ms Marine Le Pen seriously after the leader of the far-right Front National was shown arriving for a work meeting at Versailles in sunglasses with a drink in her hand, but the Gallic presidential hopeful would be wise to learn a few things from the space-age yacht that was used to open this year’s Paris air show.
The $1.6bn (€1.4bn) craft reportedly uses a 3D computer system to rotate its hull to keep the best view of each aircraft in flight, with Le Pen even flying in one from California to Paris to cheer its arrival and to dance to a song made to ring in the 2017 exhibition.
Unlike the artist who parked her pigeons on the far right of Versailles to create this image, Le Pen could probably use a bit of summer scenery, including a liaison with Louis XIV’s palace, so it is a pity her team and catering operator made so little time for champagne.
The honeymoon is over, which is probably for the best – France’s agricultural sector is in crisis. The country exported more than €1bn of wine in 2017, an increase of more than 50% from 2016, although that represented a 15% decrease in overall exports to other European countries.
The mayor of the Bordeaux region, Alain Michaud, told the newspaper Le Monde that the wine export figures were “a disaster” for a country known for its wine. “There are serious questions being asked,” he said.
“It’s not right that it’s been left with a domestic market that is moribund. We don’t export more than the number of French [wines] we consume. It’s time to concentrate on what is left.”
Madame Le Pen’s plans to boost France’s food exports are coming under pressure after the value of the euro increased by more than 20% against the dollar over the past two years.
“We’re going to work on marketing products that are relevant for a euro-rainbow world: where European products can be sold at the low prices their unique taste brings,” the far-right leader said earlier this month.