Macron sucked into a whirlpool by stunt
FRANCE: Emmanuel Macron suffered a fresh setback yesterday as Marine Le Pen gatecrashed his visit to a northern town where an emblematic factory is closing with the loss of 286 jobs.
As the independent centrist candidate in the French presidential election was holding talks with trade unionists in Amiens, his far-Right rival arrived unannounced to meet workers outside the gates of the doomed Whirlpool plant.
The images of him sitting at a table opposite a union delegation while she was with staff threatened with redundancy appeared to reinforce Le Pen’s claim to be the working-class champion.
Hours later, when Macron arrived at the plant, he was jeered by some of the staff, who began chanting ‘‘Marine for president’’.
Macron has faced criticism that he has been behaving ‘‘like a child king’’ since winning the first round of the presidential election.
The centrist is the favourite to defeat Le Pen, the National Front leader, in the second round vote on May 7, according to opinion polls. He has the support of President Francois Hollande, and his hopes were boosted when Nicolas Sarkozy, the former centre-Right president, backed him yesterday.
Macron has been accused of taking the election for granted. He had hoped to deflect claims of complacency by visiting his home town, where the fate of the Whirlpool factory became a symbol of the debate over Europe when executives said production would be moved to Poland.
Macron’s plans went awry when Le Pen arrived at the factory to claim that its workers had fallen victim to free movement within the European Union. She has said France should leave the EU unless it is transformed into an association of sovereign states.
In between selfies with her supporters, she said: ‘‘The staff here know that I defend them. I’ve been saying for years that we cannot allow unbridled competition, and that we need economic patriotism and intelligent protectionism.
‘‘I am here with the workers while Emmanuel Macron is eating petits fours with representatives who represent only themselves. Macron is on the side of the oligarchy, of employers’ federations and of big groups. I am on the side of the workers.’’
Le Pen has said that she will impose a 35 per cent border tax on Whirlpool products imported into France if it moves production to Poland.
Macron responded by hurriedly changing his plans to announce that he, too, would meet workers at the plant later in the day. - The Times