One far-left French MP has attracted controversy after saying Israeli athletes were not welcome to the upcoming Olympics.
With less than a week to go until the Games kick off, France Unbowed's Thomas Portes called for people to protest the appearance of Israeli athletes.
UK correspondent Vincent McAviney says this has drawn in negative reactions from all sides.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Vincent Mecavinie is our UK correspondent this evening.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
E Vincent, good morning, oh, good afternoon indeed for you.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, absolutely, hey listen, what was the price tag for
that Rwanda scheme that deported like absolutely no.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What seven hundred million pounds. This was a scheme that
the last government, the Conservative government, set up. They were
trying to deter the small boat's crossings in the Channel
and they struck this deal sort of based on what
Australia had done in the past decade to send people
immediately to Rwanda for processing and then they would have
(00:31):
ended up living in Rwanda, not here in Britain. And
they blew money obviously on hundreds of civil servants working
on it, but also chartered jets that never went anywhere
because commercial airlines refused to do this scheme, and then
setting up accommodation in Rwanda as well. The new government
has now scrapped this, but it was a pretty hefty
bill which they say over the next ten years would
(00:52):
have cost billions and only a few hundred people would
have been sent there and we saw with the figures
every year increasing, he wasn't deterring anyone.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That's amazing. Has Paris looking Is it looking okay?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, I'm heading there on Friday for a couple of days.
It's really exciting to have the Games back in Europe.
It seems like they've got the preparations done pretty well.
They didn't have huge building projects. Their whole method has
been to sort of reuse refurbish previous centers that they
could use for the game. So it's not like London
where we sort of rebuilt half the East End. The
(01:26):
only thing they've had to do is the Olympic Village.
So they look like they're prepared. But there has been
some disquiet. A French radical left France Unbowed MP has
sparked outrage saying that Israeli athletes are not welcome in
the city, of course, following the war in Gaza, but
he's drawn sharp criticism from many of his countrymen, saying
that that is not true.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Is security quite a big concern this time around?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
But it often is what about this time?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, it is a big concern. We saw this in
the Euros here in the past month in Germany, where
there was strict security for the first time as well.
They had checks on their road borders in decades going
in and out of the country, and we think there's
a massive operation. In France, the opening ceremony, which is
on the Seene River, a very open event, has been
(02:13):
scaled back. It was going to be the whole city
could come and watch, but now it's only in designated
areas because they are concerned about security, particularly in the
wake of that war in the Middle East between Israel
and Hamatts. They think the threat level has gone up.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I see the temperatures hovering somewhere in the late twenties
at the moment, early thirties. Have you any plans for
escaping the heat while you're there?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I mean, yeah, there's not much you can do in
Paris in the summer. There's very little ac so it
might be a bit sticky.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's not going to be very pleasant. Now, listen, why
is it that Richie Sunek has put a deadline on
a November before when he will continue his run as
the leader of the Conservatives.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, the Conservatives trying to have a long process to
elect their leader of the opposition position here in the
British Parliament, and they've made this mistake in the last
time they did this process where they ended up having
Liz Truss versus Richie Sunac. It was felt like the
campaign then was a bit of a mess. So they've
(03:13):
wanted to take the time to set proper rules, to
let everyone recover of it from the election before they
had to get their nominations in on Wednesday. They will
then have all that time, including their party conference right
in the middle of it, to have a proper campaign,
a proper debate and talk they want about the direction
of the party and so Richie Sunac has agreed to
stay in position until the second of November when that
(03:33):
new person will take over. It's interesting there was a
lot of thought that if Richie Sunac had lost his seat,
for instance, he'd be on the first plane out to
California with his wife and family. He said he will
stick around. He did get re elected as an MP.
He said he will stick around. I think part of
it is wanting to combat that narrative that he's going
to disappear from these shores pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Vincent listener was great to chea to you. Thank you
very much. I will chair you in a couple of days. Again,
that's Vincent mcaviniew UK correspondent.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
For more from hither Duplessy Allen Drive. Listen live to
News Talk Set B from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
Vincent Mecavinie is our UK correspondent this evening.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
E Vincent, good morning, oh, good afternoon indeed for you.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, absolutely, hey listen, what was the price tag for
that Rwanda scheme that deported like absolutely no.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What seven hundred million pounds. This was a scheme that
the last government, the Conservative government, set up. They were
trying to deter the small boat's crossings in the Channel
and they struck this deal sort of based on what
Australia had done in the past decade to send people
immediately to Rwanda for processing and then they would have
(00:31):
ended up living in Rwanda, not here in Britain. And
they blew money obviously on hundreds of civil servants working
on it, but also chartered jets that never went anywhere
because commercial airlines refused to do this scheme, and then
setting up accommodation in Rwanda as well. The new government
has now scrapped this, but it was a pretty hefty
bill which they say over the next ten years would
(00:52):
have cost billions and only a few hundred people would
have been sent there and we saw with the figures
every year increasing, he wasn't deterring anyone.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That's amazing. Has Paris looking Is it looking okay?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, I'm heading there on Friday for a couple of days.
It's really exciting to have the Games back in Europe.
It seems like they've got the preparations done pretty well.
They didn't have huge building projects. Their whole method has
been to sort of reuse refurbish previous centers that they
could use for the game. So it's not like London
where we sort of rebuilt half the East End. The
(01:26):
only thing they've had to do is the Olympic Village.
So they look like they're prepared. But there has been
some disquiet. A French radical left France Unbowed MP has
sparked outrage saying that Israeli athletes are not welcome in
the city, of course, following the war in Gaza, but
he's drawn sharp criticism from many of his countrymen, saying
that that is not true.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Is security quite a big concern this time around?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
But it often is what about this time?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, it is a big concern. We saw this in
the Euros here in the past month in Germany, where
there was strict security for the first time as well.
They had checks on their road borders in decades going
in and out of the country, and we think there's
a massive operation. In France, the opening ceremony, which is
on the Seene River, a very open event, has been
(02:13):
scaled back. It was going to be the whole city
could come and watch, but now it's only in designated
areas because they are concerned about security, particularly in the
wake of that war in the Middle East between Israel
and Hamatts. They think the threat level has gone up.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
I see the temperatures hovering somewhere in the late twenties
at the moment, early thirties. Have you any plans for
escaping the heat while you're there?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I mean, yeah, there's not much you can do in
Paris in the summer. There's very little ac so it
might be a bit sticky.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's not going to be very pleasant. Now, listen, why
is it that Richie Sunek has put a deadline on
a November before when he will continue his run as
the leader of the Conservatives.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, the Conservatives trying to have a long process to
elect their leader of the opposition position here in the
British Parliament, and they've made this mistake in the last
time they did this process where they ended up having
Liz Truss versus Richie Sunac. It was felt like the
campaign then was a bit of a mess. So they've
(03:13):
wanted to take the time to set proper rules, to
let everyone recover of it from the election before they
had to get their nominations in on Wednesday. They will
then have all that time, including their party conference right
in the middle of it, to have a proper campaign,
a proper debate and talk they want about the direction
of the party and so Richie Sunac has agreed to
stay in position until the second of November when that
(03:33):
new person will take over. It's interesting there was a
lot of thought that if Richie Sunac had lost his seat,
for instance, he'd be on the first plane out to
California with his wife and family. He said he will
stick around. He did get re elected as an MP.
He said he will stick around. I think part of
it is wanting to combat that narrative that he's going
to disappear from these shores pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Vincent listener was great to chea to you. Thank you
very much. I will chair you in a couple of days. Again,
that's Vincent mcaviniew UK correspondent.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
For more from hither Duplessy Allen Drive. Listen live to
News Talk Set B from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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