The start of the school year was not easy for Emmanuel Macron.
On the second day of his trip to Marseille, shot, among other things, on security but also the pandemic, the Head of State lent himself to the game of questions and answers with journalists after those of several children.
After addressing the school theme - he spent several hours in a school - the President of the Republic was invited to reflect on several controversies. Starting with the information that the neighborhoods where Emmanuel Macron was expected were cleaned before his arrival. "I take it as a form of politeness and hospitality (….) But that does not regulate the lives of people on a daily basis", he admitted. "What is very true is that social landlords should clean these places on a regular basis (...) it is a reality", continued the Head of State.
Another controversy in the news, that lit by Jean-Michel Blanquer concerning the back-to-school allowance.
On Sunday, the Minister of Education had declared on France 3: "We know that there are sometimes larger purchases of flat screens in September than at other times".
Two days later, he clarified about Brut: “It's obvious that these are things that happen.
(…) We know very well that from the moment you provide funds in euros, you cannot be sure that 100% of people will spend them on children.
"
Read alsoIs the back-to-school allowance really misused to buy flat screens?
Emmanuel Macron, traveling with his Minister of Education to a school in the 13th arrondissement of Marseille, was therefore very logically invited to react on the subject.
"We would be either blind or naive to think that all of what each household receives in back-to-school allowances is donated to buy children's supplies or books," he replied, in the same vein as Jean- Michel Blanquer.
"After that, we must not enter into a system of social control where there would be a form of mistrust which sets in with regard to families," however continued Emmanuel Macron, after recalling that "parliamentarians were discussing it ”.
An extension of the health pass is not excluded
Since he is on his land, the Head of State was also questioned about Professor Didier Raoult, a controversial figure because of his position on the Covid-19. And he showed himself to be very uncritical. "We must do justice to Didier Raoult who is a great scientist", he first advanced, before acknowledging that the professor, officially retired from the AP-HM, had "sometimes a media comment which led to reactions and overreactions and which perhaps could have created these phenomena of rejection of the vaccination. "But I do not enter into these debates, we must continue to have great scientists, that they participate in the construction of science," he continued, simply regretting that "collectively, for several month,we have undoubtedly had a bad use of the scientific debate by making it a media debate ”. Emmanuel Macron still concluded by specifying that there was a “scientific consensus and health authorities” on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine against Covid-19.
Read also Didier Raoult, a frenzy of publications and practices in question
The Head of State has of course not escaped the subject that has sparked controversy since the beginning of the summer: the health pass.
And he expressed a position that may well displease opponents by not ruling out an extension of this "provisional" instrument, for the time being scheduled until November 15.
"If the epidemic is still present in the coming weeks, we will have to allow ourselves this possibility for the territories which are most affected," said Emmanuel Macron.
At the beginning of August, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, had already mentioned this possibility.