Macron ally jumps ship on ‘Titanic’ note

FRANCE’S increasingly unpopular president, Emmanuel Macron, has suffered a further blow after an MP quit his party, saying she felt as if she was “on the Titanic”.

Frédérique Dumas resigned from Mr Macron’s centrist Republic on the Move party because she said the government had “forgotten the fundamental principles of Macronism”. She added: “Some decisions come down to budget cuts. There is no ambition, no direction.”

The move by Ms Dumas, 55, a former film producer, reflects growing disillusion with Mr Macron and impatience that controversial, often painful economic reforms have so far failed to cut unemployment or really boost growth.

Sixteen months after his election, Mr Macron is more unpopular than any recent president at the same point in office with an approval rating of just 19per cent. He has struggled to recover after a scandal over an aide filmed beating up protesters, claims of cronyism and cabinet confusion.

“You have the feeling that you’re on the Titanic,” Ms Dumas complained. She called for an “electric shock” to galvanise the government, accusing party leaders of failing to listen to MPS.

Expressing any view other than the party line is seen as an “act of rebellion” rather than a basis for discussion, she said. While stressing that she still hoped Mr Macron would succeed, Ms Dumas said she would join a centreright group formed by the centrist Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) and a new party, Agir (Act).

Agir has been launched by nine MPS who quit the main opposition conservative party, The Republicans, because they opposed its shift to the Right under hardline leader Laurent Wauquiez.

Franck Riester, the head of the joint AGIR-UDI parliamentary group, said it would defend the European Union and liberal values and “will not let populists steal the Right”.

With France’s other main party, the Socialists, also in disarray, the most vocal opposition now comes from the far-left, led by Jean-luc Mélenchon, and the far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.