The resigning Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy, Roland Lescure, a figure from the left wing of Macron's party, will not automatically give his confidence to Michel Barnier's government if it crosses certain red lines on immigration.
The minister added that he does not wish to continue in government. “My confidence will not be automatic. I am clear on my red lines,” Roland Lescure declared in an interview with Libération on Monday.
“If we have to dip into the RN program, it will be without me”
His red lines concern immigration. “When I hear Michel Barnier talking, during the LR primary in 2021, about a moratorium on immigration or the elimination of State Medical Aid (AME), I respond: Let's preserve economic immigration, let's preserve AME,” he explains. Roland Lescure continues: “Economic immigration is an opportunity for France and a necessity. In the next ten years, we will need a million jobs in industry and part of them will come from regular immigration. As for AME, eliminating it or weakening it would be a public health failure.”
“I will be vigilant to ensure that we do not succumb to shopping from the RN program. The solutions of the National Rally cannot be part of the equation. If we have to pick from the RN program, it will be without me,” he warns.
Re-elected as a member of parliament, Roland Lescure is now vice-president of the National Assembly. “It is an important position that will help build bridges between Republicans on both sides,” he assures.
Michel Barnier continued his round table talks on Sunday to form a government by receiving the leaders of Horizons, including his predecessor at Matignon Edouard Philippe, then the head of the MoDem François Bayrou. The leader of the Horizons deputies Laurent Marcangeli highlighted, at the end of the meeting, “convergences” with the new tenant of Matignon, not ruling out the participation of his party in the government.
From this Monday, Michel Barnier will continue his consultations with the reception of representatives of the Liot group at 3 p.m.
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