Paris mayor puts President Macron on spot over refusal to order new lockdown
The city authorities in Paris, led by mayor Anne Hidalgo, have suggested that the French capital and surrounding region be put under a new lockdown to tackle the worsening Covid-19 virus situation there. This has piled pressure on President Emmanuel Macron who has been described by some as the country's “epidemiologist-in-chief” and who has so far resisted growing calls for a lockdown not just in the capital but across France. As Ellen Salvi reports, the Paris authorities are effectively asking a question that the head of state's supporters are refusing to countenance: what if the French president has got it wrong?
TheThe socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and her allies have laid down a political gauntlet for President Emanuel Macron. On Thursday February 25th, after the latest declarations by prime minister Jean Castex about the Covid-19 crisis, Hidalgo's deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire told Franceinfo radio that he regretted the “current situation” and the “wait-and-see” approach adopted by the French government over the last three weeks.
