Macron is in office, but is he in power?

Emmanuel Macron is said to be appalled by his new right-wing government. A confidant of the French president conveyed to AFP the depth of his despair. ‘I did not choose this government,’ Macron reportedly told his inner circle. ‘They make me feel ashamed.’

There’s little doubt who Macron had in mind when he made his cri du coeur: Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, a conservative Catholic, who has vowed to crackdown on immigration.

Macron hit back at Retailleau last week during a radio interview on France Inter, pointing out that immigration is ‘our wealth, a strength’. He gave a couple of examples: the scientist Marie Curie and crooner Charles Aznavour.

It was a flippant riposte, an example of Macron playing to the gallery on a radio station that talks up its ‘Progressive’ values. The president knew what sort of immigration Retailleau was talking about: mass uncontrolled immigration, so great it risks overwhelming a country’s infrastructure, as is the case with France.