The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
THE polling numbers are close in this final week of the French election, with the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen running just behind the supposed defender of the values of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
Much is made in the press about the distinction between the two, but unfortunately what is also apparent is that the distance is shrinking as the neoliberal Macron shifts further to the right while this week attempting to show he is really a man of the people after having spent the campaign proposing proposition after proposition to benefit the wealthy.
Le Pen meanwhile has attempted to keep the focus solidly on the French pouvoir d’achat, power of buying, or cost of living, accusing Macron of both contributing to inflation and being oblivious to its effects.
While millions face poverty and public services are squeezed, France is committing billions to defence spending and weapons production, in a dangerous shift towards permanent preparation for war, says CONOR BOLLINS
DENNIS BROE gives an update on the last week of anti-austerity protests against the Macron regime, which has seen the supposedly more right-leaning Gilets Jaunes join with the unions and the left
The desperate French president keeps running up the same political cul-de-sac. DENNIS BROE offers an explanation


