jean noel barrot, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. how surprised were you by emmanuel macron s pretty extraordinary decision to call a snap election? well, obviously i was surprised, because it s a very unique way to take a democratic decision, when the political situation in a given country is so severe that it basically limits the ability of the country to act for itself. there are very few leaders in this world that would take such a democratic decision in the face of such important choices. such a democratic decision, you say. many french people, including people very close to emmanuel macron, would call it an almost crazy gamble. no, a majority of french people support this decision. and the reason is simple you re never wrong when you hand the power to the people. and with a situation where the majority was too thin to be able to reform in a political situation where, after the european elections or during the european elections, french citizens expressed some anger,
jean noel barrot, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. how surprised were you by emmanuel macron s pretty extraordinary decision to call a snap election? well, obviously i was surprised, because it s a very unique way to take a democratic decision, when the political situation in a given country is so severe that it basically limits the ability of the country to act for itself. there are very few leaders in this world that would take such a democratic decision in the face of such important choices. such a democratic decision, you say. many french people, including people very close to emmanuel macron, would call it an almost crazy gamble. no, a majority of french people support this decision. and the reason is simple you re never wrong when you hand the power to the people. and with a situation where the majority was too thin to be able to reform in a political situation where, after the european elections or during the european elections, french citizens expressed some anger,
jean noel barrot, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. how surprised were you by emmanuel macron s pretty extraordinary decision to call a snap election? well, obviously i was surprised, because it s a very unique way to take a democratic decision, when the political situation in a given country is so severe that it basically limits the ability of the country to act for itself. there are very few leaders in this world that would take such a democratic decision in the face of such important choices. such a democratic decision, you say. many french people, including people very close to emmanuel macron, would call it an almost crazy gamble. no, a majority of french people support this decision. and the reason is simple you re never wrong when you hand the power to the people. and with a situation where the majority was too thin to be able to reform in a political situation where, after the european elections or during the european elections, french citizens expressed some anger,
In america as a harley davidson. It turns out the famous Wisconsin Bike can teach us a lot about the us economy. Hello and welcome to one hundred days, im katty kay in washington, Christian Frasers in paris. Us politics has dominated headlines since we began the era of donald trump, but now theres another election that demands our attention. This weekend is the first round of the French Election and the latest polls suggest its a tight race. In the next hour, French Television will start grilling the candidates, there are 11 of them in total, but there are five in particular who we are keeping our eye on. Each contender will getjust fifteen minutes to convince french voters they should be in the second round run off. A quarter of those who plan to vote say they may still change their minds on who they will plump for between now and sunday. The big question of course is whether the populist trend we have seen in britain and in the United States will spread to france. The histories of fr
Shortly in london. A man has been arrested over the death of an ex Royal Navy Officer who was hit as his car was stolen from outside his home in manchester. This couldve happened to absolutely anybody. You hear a noise downstairs, you go to see what it is. Its incredibly tragic. Any bit of information, we really need to hear it. Four tram drivers admit to falling asleep on a line in croydon, where seven people died after derailment last year. And the cities vying to take over from hull as uks next city of culture. Good morning and welcome to bbc news. Im Karin Giannone Live In Paris where the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and the far right National Front Leader Marine Le Pen have made it through to the second round of the french president ial election. Macron who has never held Political Office told his supporters they had changed the face of French Politics, and it was his job to reconcile the country. Marine le pen described her victory as historic and said a vote for her was ke