Macron ‘will use failure of Brexit to cease far proper in snap French election’

Emmanuel Macron will use the long list of Brexit failures to curb the rise of the far right in France in his snap election, an expert has claimed.

The French leader suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Marine Le Pen and her far right, anti-immigration party, National Rally, at the European elections. As Macron licks his wounds, Le Pen is ploughing on, making deals with right wingers to consolidate support ahead of a snap election. On Sunday, veteran lawmaker Macron sent France back to the polls for two rounds of voting on June 30 and July 7.

Professor Anthony Glees, a European Affairs expert at the University of Buckingham, says Macron faces a “big risk” at the upcoming polls, but that as an experienced politician, he may still come out on top. He will likely use Britain as an example, calling out the multitude of failures of Brexit to show why France needs the European Union.

The professor tells The Mirror: “Macron has the example of Brexit to discourage French voters from embarking on the same course. […] For EU members, Brexit has not only failed signally to solve the problems of no/low growth, stopping mass immigration from SE Asia and Nigeria, it has actually increased it exponentially.

“We have not secured our borders and we are increasingly prone to cyber attacks from Russian-based hackers and incapable to stopping them.”

Using Brexit as his Ace in the hole, Prof Glees said that even if Le Pen wins this election, she won’t last long because she won’t be able to remove France from the union.

“She will not be able to fulfil her promises to the French people because the support for the far right in the European Parliament is too slight”, he said.

Le Pen will fail in her manifesto promise, but Europe must address its “immigration problem”, Prof Glees added. “[The EU] is going to have to get real with the immigration problem, with securing Europe’s borders properly, with going for economic growth, with tackling serious organised crime.

“It must deliver security to the people of Europe. MEPs did not properly address these issues. They have now got to get on with the job of doing so.”

The professor compared the current situation to David Cameron’s actions after UKIP won the European Elections in 2014, saying that Macron has “come the same sort of cropper” that Cameron did following the far-right’s surge in the UK.

“Whereas Cameron tried to play it long, with back-room deals, mounting Euro-sceptic noises and ultimately that Referendum, Macron is going for a quick fix,” he said.

If National Rally wins the national election, it would be the first time a far-right party lead the government since World War II.

In the latest legislative elections in 2022, Macron’s centrist party won the most seats but lost its majority at the National Assembly, forcing lawmakers into political maneuvering to pass bills. With Sunday’s decision, he is taking a big risk with a move that could backfire and increase the chances of Le Pen to eventually take power.

A scenario in which an opposition party would eventually win a parliament majority could lead to a fraught power-sharing situation called “cohabitation,” with Macron to name a prime minister with different views.

Le Pen, who head the National Rally group at the National Assembly, “welcomed” Macron’s move. ‘We’re ready for it,” said Le Pen, who was the runner-up to Macron in the last two presidential elections. “We’re ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections. We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration, ready to make the purchasing power of the French a priority.”