Now defeat Le Pen: Left Unity statement

The second round in the French presidential election poses a choice between the far right candidate Marine Le Pen, and the new candidate of the neoliberal establishment, Emmanuel Macron. The two parties which have dominated French political life for forty years – the Socialists and the Republicans – have been eliminated in the first round.

Difficult though it is, to support a candidate like Macron, it has to be done, to block the road to the Presidency to Marine Le Pen and the politics of hatred, division and racism that she and her party stand for. It has to be done, to block the rise of the far right across Europe and beyond.

Blocking Le Pen is just the first part of the process, because the first round also saw massive support for a far left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, and his France Insoumise movement. With almost 20% of the vote, marking the highest score for a candidate advocating social transformation since 1981, this represents the basis for a massive struggle across France, against austerity and unemployment, for social justice and equality.

Left Unity supports its sister parties in France in their work to build an alternative that can defeat both fascism and neoliberalism.

Left Unity National Secretary, Felicity Dowling, said:

‘Courage to all socialists, anti-fascists and anti-racists in France. For all our futures, in France, the Britain, across Europe, Africa and beyond, we wholeheartedly support your struggle to defeat Le Pen. This is the first and greatest task. And we will work alongside you, to organise and stay organised, to defend and extend our rights, and to build a left alternative to fascism and neoliberalism across Europe.’