French lessons on offer in billet-doux to bankers

FRANCE is to offer language lessons to London bankers and their families in its latest ploy to lure business to Paris after Brexit.

Paris will also invest in bilingual schools for children of “impatriates”, as well as setting up an English hotline to help them navigate the confusing French education system.

The French government has also pledged to temporarily exempt foreign executives from paying into state pension schemes.

The fresh Gallic charm offensive came amid reports that Emmanuel Macron, the French president, may become the first foreign leader to be invited by Donald Trump to the US for a state visit. The White House and the Elysée Palace declined to comment on the CNN claims, which if true would be a snub to Theresa May.

Paris expects to receive around 2,500 Uk-based executives in the coming months from the financial sector, while the Bank of England estimates there will be 10,000 relocations from the sector by the time Britain leaves the EU in March 2019 and 75,000 in the longer term.

In another attempt to boost its attractiveness, the Paris region will create 1,000 places in multilingual schools next September and will create three new international lycées.

The number of pupils in “international sections” of state secondary schools will be doubled to 20,000 by 2020.