This is a telescoping which the deputies of the presidential majority would have done well.
Chance of the calendar, this Thursday, January 12, the day when the RN niche on the compulsory school uniform is examined in the hemicycle, appears in the columns of Parisian - Today in France the interview of Brigitte Macron with the readers of the newspaper in which one of them challenges him on the subject.
“I wore the uniform to school and I lived it well.
This erases the differences, we save time
(…)
.
So, I am for “, confides bluntly the wife of the President of the Republic.
Immediately, the troops of Marine Le Pen rush into the breach.
“Thank you to the first lady for providing her support”, tweets the deputy RN Roger Chudeau, bearer of the bill on behalf of his group.
Admittedly, Brigitte Macron only expressed a personal conviction, "she was certainly unaware of the existence of this niche deposited by the National Rally", remarks a member of the executive.
But the political repercussions were not long in coming.
Including within the majority, where the debate has been raging for several weeks between supporters and opponents of such a measure.
“We will never go as far as the obligation”
Starting with the Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye, fiercely opposed to the idea of legislating on the subject.
Like Elisabeth Borne, who believes in private that “it is not a priority”.
Others, on the contrary, are in favor of it, more or less publicly, in particular the Minister Delegate for Disability Geneviève Darrieussecq, but also Carole Grandjean (Delegate for Vocational Education and Training), then the Secretaries of State Sarah El Haïry (Youth) and Sonia Backès (Citizenship).
At the end of November, the latter even supported the initiative of seven Renaissance deputies who had tried to table a bill aimed at promoting “the wearing of common school clothes”.
The initiative had failed.
Officially, so as not to give the impression of running after the RN.
To defuse the debate,
a working group has nevertheless been set up.
The conclusions will be made at the end of March.
"The Renaissance majority is very divided, so we will let the debate take place quietly internally", confides MP Quentin Bataillon, who co-leads this group, nevertheless specifying a red line: "We will never go to the obligation, as requested by the RN and some LRs”.
His counterpart Sylvain Maillard continues: “We will see the conclusions and then decide whether we are going towards a bill or not”, he explains.
Favorable, “in a personal capacity”, he warns however that “such a measure could not be the alpha and the omega in the fight against Islamism”.
Still, the speech of the First Lady could give wings to some.
“I am very happy that Brigitte Macron supports the principle of a common school outfit.
I am convinced that this creates a strong sense of belonging, that it erases visible social differences and limits school harassment, says Sonia Backès to our newspaper.
No one ever claimed that this would solve everything and I respect Pap Ndiaye's opinion.
Our education system is not doing well.
There are essential fundamental reforms that the uniform does not replace.
But the uniform completes the fundamental change necessary for our school.
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