Outgoing French prime minister François Bayrou has spoken truth on national television about why the country finds itself in a debt spiral.
This week, Bayrou called a confidence vote which will effectively ask MPs to either endorse his view that austerity is necessary to reduce the public deficit.
However, with the left and far-right in France’s parliament expected to vote against Bayrou, he is likely to lose the vote, which will result in the collapse of the government.
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Knowing his probably defeat and exit looms seems to have given Bayrou a bit more free reign though, as demonstrated by a recent appearance on French TV where he spoke about France’s debt crisis.
He said the nation’s debt had been accumulated to guarantee “the comfort of boomers” – at the expense of younger generations.
Sound familiar?
If you’re French isn’t brilliant, here’s a translation of what Bayrou said the younger generations “are the victims, the ones who will have to pay off the debt their entire lives, and we’ve managed to make them believe that it needs to be increased even more.”
He added: “All this just for the comfort of certain political parties and for the comfort of the boomers, who from think everything is just fine.”
Sharing the clip on X, French political analyst François Valentin said it was “remarkable.”
He wrote: “The PM, who will lose his job next week, went live on TV: France’s debt was accumulated to guarantee the “comfort of the boomers” at the expense of the next generation.
“The truth is easily said when you are politically finished.”
Bayrou’s government, already in chaos, has been forced to confront the brutal mathematics of the national accounts.
And unlike the comforting fictions politicians often spin about waste-cutting and “efficiency savings,” Bayrou has been blunt: France’s debt burden is unsustainable, and the state’s finances are teetering.