as the billionaire pop star s eras tour gets underway in scotland. welcome to business today. i m sally bundock. more now on the results in europe as the bloc s parliamentary elections come to a close. as you ve been hearing, we ve seen a surge on the right across the region. we ve seen a surge to the right across the region. in france, the strong showing for marine le pen s national rally triggering a snap election in france called late yesterday by president emmanuel macron. the outcome of these elections are of significance because the politicians in the european parliament will be agreeing on the bloc s budget and economic policies and its position on trade. the european union is the world s largest trading bloc the top trading partner for 80 countries worldwide. with 27 member countries and an integrated economy, it has a combined population of around 440 million people. that s a vast consumer base for its own producers and exporters around the world. let s hear now
my guest is the renowned colombian novelist juan gabriel vasquez, who weaves powerful stories out of fact and fiction. is there anything magical about colombia s current reality? juan gabriel vasquez, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it s a pleasure to have you. now you inhabit two different intellectual worlds. you are a political commentator. it is yourjob to have instant, strong opinions for newspapers. on the other hand, you re also a novelist who writes complex, nuanced novels that are sort of riddled with doubt and uncertainty. which of these two mental attitudes comes more naturally to you? well, i m first and foremost a novelist. iwas. i began writing fiction at a very young age, and it was always my ideal to write the kind of novels that i had grown up with. but in south america, a novelist is also a citizen. and so you develop very quickly the need, the compulsion sometimes, the feeling of obligation to comment on the political reality. so in a sense, t
with the liberal democrats launching their manifesto later this morning. and coming up in business we ll be exploring the rise of swiftonomics as the billionaire pop star s eras tour gets under way in scotland. hello, i m sally bundock. a very warm welcome to the programme. we start in france, and in what s been described as a huge political gamble, the french president emmanuel macron has called a snap parliamentary vote after his alliance suffered a big defeat by the populist right in european union elections. mr macron said he couldn t ignore the result and dissolving parliament was an act of trust in the french people. the national rally party led by marine le pen is on course to win a record 32% of the vote in the elections for the european parliament. that s more than double the coalition which supports president macron. he responded by calling the unexpected snap election. translation: the rise - of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation but also for