The French president, Emmanuel Macron, says that the UK should be ejected from the EU with or without a deal on the 31st of October.
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In a Brexit ultimatum the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said that October the 31st is the 'final deadline' for Brexit.
Speaking from the Elysee Palace he said:
"I think this is the final, final deadline because I don’t want to have the New Commission and this new executive to deal with this. I think it is a big mistake to procrastinate."
He also said:
"I do believe we now have to implement the British people’s decision."
But he did add:
"Except if the British people themselves decide something else.
"It’s feasible'" he continued, "if we have the perspective of either a new referendum or a totally new scheme which would be acceptable for the 27 and our negotiator."
So, he's leaving the door open for an Article 50 extension for a second referendum or for a radically new approach.
But both he and the EU have reiterated their stance on the Withdrawal Agreement surrender treaty, saying that it will not be renegotiated and Ireland's Europe Minister, Helen McEntee said that the Irish border backstop cannot be changed.
So exactly what this 'new scheme' could be is anyone's guess.
But Macron has his own domestic problems.
Even with their numbers falling, the Yellow Vests are still turning out to protest against rising living costs even after six months.
On this, the French President said that trying to reform France was like trying to get through the Valley of Death.
And Helen Fouquet writing in Bloomberg reports him as saying at the Elysee Palace:
"It’s while we were in this death valley that we were attacked."
I wonder if he was referring to the Yellow Vests?
As Fouquet says in her article, since taking office two years ago, Macron has changed his country's labour laws, the wealth tax and the transport system.
But if people think this is all over, think again.
Because he's now going for unemployment benefits and the public pension, which is referred to as the mother-of-all reforms for France.
Macron told what Bloomberg refers to as 'the bankers around the table', that these reforms would be more far reaching.
With more labour market flexibility and incentives to get people into work and more transparency with the French pensions systems.
I wonder how that will sound to the Yellow Vest protesters?
Now, his reforms so far have obviously not gone down well with a lot of the French, hence the actions of the Yellow Vests, which deplorably are under-reported in the UK by the mainstream press.
So, he is going to have to work extra hard at getting his message across, or he'll just re-energise those protesters, which could force even more drastic action by the French state than we've witnessed thus far on social media, with some French police now facing criminal charges over their actions against the Yellow Vests.
And on that, because Macron was so poor at making the case for reforms earlier on, I do wonder if anyone will bother listening now.
And worryingly, Macron did say that the only way to succeed was to keep moving forward.
Sources:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/9216865/emmanuel-macron-brexit-final-deadline/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/30/french-police-face-charges-yellow-vest-injuries/
