welcome to hardtalk from paris, i m stephen sackur. france is recovering from the massive economic shock of the covid pandemic, but now it s exposed to the political uncertainty that comes with a looming presidential election. emmanuel macron hasn t officially declared that he will be a candidate, but there s little doubt he is running again. my guest today is one of his most important backers, economy and finance minister bruno le maire. now, he has big ambitions to make france the greenest, the most dynamic economy in europe. that is a handy election slogan, but is it credible? minister bruno le maire, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. minister, you came to this economy and finance ministry with big plans for structural reform. has the covid crisis destroyed those ambitions? i would say that it has destroyed no ambition. we will stick to the path of reforms. we have started the mandate of emmanuel macron with key reforms for the french economy, especially the reforms on taxat
he is running again. my guest today is one of his most important backers, economy and finance minister bruno le maire. now, he has big ambitions to make france the greenest, the most dynamic economy in europe. that is a handy election slogan, but is it credible? minister bruno le maire, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. minister, you came to this economy and finance ministry with big plans for structural reform. has the covid crisis destroyed those ambitions? i would say that it has destroyed no ambition. we will stick to the path of reforms. we have started the mandate of emmanuel macron with key reforms for the french economy, especially the reforms on taxation. we have reduced the level of taxation for french smes, for french people, by 50 billion euros. we have introduced reforms for the simplification of the life of the smes. then came this huge crisis, and i think this is the most important crisis since 1929 that we ve lived in europe, in the western world, in china, in i
take the time you need to build trust. that, any peace negotiator will tell you, is the way to find a solution. this week on political thinking, my guest, the health secretary for england, victoria atkins, suggests it could be the way to find peace in the nhs, to end the strikes that have dogged the health service for more than a year. it s been a big week for her, when talks are starting once again with thejunior doctors and after a new report highlighted the horrorfor some mothers and soon to be mothers of nhs maternity services, something she has some rather powerful experience of. victoria atkins, welcome to political thinking. thank you so much, pleasure to be here. you ve said when talking about women s health, you ve said when talking about this searing indictment that we saw this week of maternity and childbirth services, this is personalfor you. why so? well, i m a mum as well as the secretary of state for health. and i had my baby on the nhs, and i have a long histo
Think that we should rely on our submarines. australia has taken another decision. well, that s the past. but i really think it was not a fair decision. when the foreign minister here in paris called it a stab in the back , prime minister borisjohnson, in the uk, responded by sort of mocking france, saying prenez un grip, donnez moi un break . he was laughing at france. and ijust wonder, given that the relationship with the uk right now, post brexit, looks very difficult, some say toxic, how you responded to those words from boris johnson? please raise the stake. raise the stake. raise the stake we are facing huge challenges. the fight against climate change. illegal migrations. the rise of china. what is the key concern for all of us?
Donnez moi un break . he was laughing at france. and ijust wonder, given that the relationship with the uk right now, post brexit, looks very difficult, some say toxic, how you responded to those words from boris johnson? please raise the stake. raise the stake. raise the stake, we are facing huge challenges. the fight against climate change. illegal migrations. the rise of china. what is the key concern for all of us? what should be the key concern for the western countries? is it reopen old quarrels between the uk and france? well, it seems so. is it? with respect, it does seem so, if one looks at the northern ireland protocol, if one looks at fishing disputes in the english channel. but if some of the british politicians want to reopen quarrels between france and the uk, well, that s a willingness.