Macron under pressure after five migrants SHOT in violent Calais brawl

Sovereigntist politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan slammed the French government’s “cowardly” response to the violence. 

And in a swipe at the French President, Mr Dupont-Aignan said Mr Macron was “sparkly on the outside” and “rotten from the inside”. 

More than 20 people were injured – four critically – in Thursday’s clashes between rival Eritrean and Afghan gangs. 

French interior minister Gérard Collomb visited the scene and said the “unprecedented” level of violence was “intolerable for the people of Calais and the migrants” as he urged migrants to stay away from the port town. 

Extra police were deployed to Calais and there are new plans for food distribution. 

But the government’s response was condemned. Mr Dupont-Aignan, the head of France’s Debout La France (Stand up France) party, said: “The migrant crisis has been going on for years, but the situation keeps getting worse because no one is fixing the root cause of the problem. The state’s response to the situation is cowardly.

“The situation in Calais is appalling, it’s spiralling out of control. It’s also inhumane for all parties involved: for migrants, for locals and for the police.” 

Mr Dupont-Aignan, failed presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s pick for prime minister, added that France’s porous borders, welfare benefits and weak immigration policy had aggravated the migrant crisis. 

He said: “First of all, our country has no borders, and secondly, we have a generous welfare system which attracts migrants. And thirdly, some 90 per cent of failed asylum seekers are never sent back to their home country,” the French nationalist warned. 

“We need to set up detention centres for illegal immigrants along France’s borders and wage a relentless war against people smugglers. In addition, foreigners should have to live in France for five years before being granted access to social benefits. Problem solved.” 

In truth, he added, European governments “want immigration” and “do not want to solve the migrant problem”. 

The conservative MP also lashed out at Mr Macron, saying that the 40-year-old centrist was nothing but a “mirage”. 

“Emmanuel Macron is a mirage: he’s sparkly on the outside, but rotten from the inside… The country is dying, and French society is suffering like never before,” he said. 

Mr Macron has faced heavy criticism for his plans to harden France’s immigration and asylum policy, with aid agencies and members of the opposition accusing his government of planning mass expulsions.