Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on a far-right French leader calling for a rally in support of Marine Le Pen

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella has called on people to rally in the centre of Paris this coming weekend in support of Marine Le Pen.

Le Pen was recently banned from running for public office for five years after being found guilty of the embezzlement of European parliamentary funds.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the judges who made the ruling have been subject to backlash and threats - showing the power of Le Pen's party.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray's our UK correspondent, Gavin Good evening, Good evening,
right now, you're expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
Is anyone seriously expecting an exemption here or do you
think that's sort of wishful thinking? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I think that's wish for thinking. Now there's been a
real tone, a change in the tone from the Prime
Minister and ministers about what they're expecting from so called
Liberation Day from Donald Trump and those impending tariffs. And
the UK has a pretty similar amount of imports to
exports in the US, and therefore it had been hoped
unlike the EU, which imports, or rather exports a lot

(00:36):
more to America than it imports. There had been hope
perhaps that along with this announcement of a trade deal
that's expected soon, perhaps the UK would expect to avoid
all these tariffs. But it doesn't really sound as though
that's going to be possible this way is how will
the UK act? The Prime Minister saying there will be
no knee jerk reaction, there will be a calm approach,

(00:59):
but the EU is looking much much more aggressive, or
at least sounding like they're going to be much more
aggressive By using retaliatory tariffs almost immediately. This could be
a big hit for the UK, a very big hit
for the EU as well. Some in the UK suggesting
that if a trade war does break out and the
UK then imposes tariffs in reverse as it were, that

(01:21):
there could be a one percent decline in GDP. So
this is huge money. But as I said, at the moment,
I think any thought that the UK is going to
escape these tariffs completely now seems to be much much
more wish for thinking, as this trade deal that's been
talked about for so long between the US and the
UK since Brexit could finally materialize, but that is looking

(01:42):
to take a lot longer than perhaps some hope, which
is significant.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
The one percent things significant, isn't it for the UK?
Because you expected to grow But I was looking last
night one between one and one point seven percent, depending
on which economists you talk to, which exp you talk to.
So I mean that could basically take you down to
known growth.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, very much so. And not just that, it completely
wipes out the fiscal headroom, as it's called, in other words,
the spare money which this government is keeping to one
side in order to make sure they actually comply with
their own rules about borrowing, and so if that headroom,
as it were, that spare bit of margin of error

(02:21):
is wiped out, then I'm afraid we are going to
have to see probably significant cuts to benefits here, but
also potentially tax rises that has long been talked about here,
and I think these tariffs would certainly mean the government
has an excuse then to go for that route too.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, because where are they going to get the money?
The French love approachest, don't they, And there's a new
one for Lapin.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah. Indeed. So so we learned, of course that Marine
Leapen has been found guilty effectively of embezzlement using roughly
five and a half million New Zealand dollars of European
Union funding to run her own party. She had denied
those allegations. It was expected she would be found guilty.
What was not expected, Ryan was that she would be

(03:06):
barred from holding public office for five years. That means
that the favorite for the next presidential election in France
in twenty twenty seven has been dealt a dramatic blow.
She is allowed to appeal, but the timing of that
appeal may make it very difficult for her to run
in twenty to twenty seven, so it looks like stepping
up to the mark will be her deputy Jordan Bardalla.

(03:29):
He's called now on people to rally in the center
of Paris on Sunday to protest at the ruling. We
now know that the judges who made this ruling have
received a lot of backlash on social media and threats
as well. This is something that the National Rally Party
Marine Le Penn's party has condemned. However, it shows I

(03:49):
think the strength of feeling and shows, particularly this weekend,
how difficult this march could be for the authorities in
Paris as they try to contain feelings but also trying
to make sure it doesn't come violent or around any
very unpleasant scenes in the heart of the capital.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Not just the teriffs that are going up for you guys,
but a series of quite essential household bills.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
You name it. It's going up. So as we change
financial year from twenty four twenty five to twenty five
twenty six, water bills, energy prices are going up. That's
gas and electric. It's not just those council tax that's
the tax you paid to your local government, as it
were your local offices, as are the costs of the

(04:33):
taxing your car, having a television license, broadband and phone
bills all going up within the space of a few days,
and some of them really quite considerable. Some council tax
bills going up by generally by about five percent, but
some going up by ten percent and more. These are
significant bills. And according to one big charity here in

(04:55):
the UK, this is going to hit millions of people
on lowest incomes who are already s extra breaking point.
And Ryan, it affects many on low incomes, particularly single parents.
Why well, because a lot of these increases are in essentials.
In other words, they're not luxuries. People can't you know,
suddenly not use energy or not use water. So that's

(05:15):
why it hits these people hard, is and they are
saying that some are really going to be pushed to
a breaking point because, believe it or not, one in
five families here in the UK do not have any
savings at all. Ryan, So although the wages are rising
faster than the rate of inflation, I'm afraid there is
going to be some very very tough months ahead for

(05:37):
those on lower incomes.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Goodness, mate, Kevin, thank you today. Kevin Gray are UK correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
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