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Marine Le Pen: No free school for foreigners in France | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for an end to free education for foreign children. | French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for an end to free education for foreign children. |
In a speech in Paris, the National Front's candidate in the 2017 presidential race next spring said she had nothing against foreigners. | In a speech in Paris, the National Front's candidate in the 2017 presidential race next spring said she had nothing against foreigners. |
"But I tell them: if you come to our country don't expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge," she said. | "But I tell them: if you come to our country don't expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge," she said. |
"No more playtime," she added. | "No more playtime," she added. |
Ms Le Pen is widely expected to be one of two candidates to reach the second and final round of the election in May. | Ms Le Pen is widely expected to be one of two candidates to reach the second and final round of the election in May. |
Latest opinion polls suggest she is running neck-and-neck in polling for the first round with the centre-right candidate Francois Fillon, who was selected in national primaries at the end of November. The Socialists will hold their own primaries next month. | |
However, around two-thirds of voters would choose Mr Fillon over Ms Le Pen in the deciding round. | However, around two-thirds of voters would choose Mr Fillon over Ms Le Pen in the deciding round. |
Cutting immigration has long been a bedrock policy of the FN, and Ms Le Pen has campaigned hard to cut legal immigration dramatically to 10,000 a year and halt the right to family reunions. | |
Education has also been a central theme for the far-right leader. In 2014, she spoke out against providing substitute meals for pork dinners in schools for Muslims and Jews. | |
However under French law dating back to 1881, free primary education is a basic right for all children. The right to education is also a fundamental tenet of the European Convention on Human Rights. | |
Since she took over the running of the FN from her father almost six years ago, she has worked hard to detoxify the party's extremist image and attract mainstream voters. | |
Her presidential campaign bears no trace of the party name and features a blue rose, borrowing imagery from both left and right. | Her presidential campaign bears no trace of the party name and features a blue rose, borrowing imagery from both left and right. |
But Ms Le Pen has had to respond to Mr Fillon's election as candidate by setting out distinctive policies. | |
On Wednesday, she accused him of being in hock to France's business organisation Medef, the European Commission, the banks and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. | On Wednesday, she accused him of being in hock to France's business organisation Medef, the European Commission, the banks and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. |
In a live interview on Wednesday on one of France's main TV channels, TF1, she suggested she would put France back together in five years. | |
"I want to sort out the schools, France's diplomacy and the economy" she said, adding that she wanted a referendum on France's membership of the European Union. |