Emmanuel Macron loses vital partner as finance minister Bayrou quits
Paris — France’s justice minister Francois Bayrou, a key ally of President Emmanuel Macron, says he is quitting the government, as his party battles a funding scandal. The move means Macron loses a crucial centrist partner as he seeks to pull together a government to push forward his ambitious pro-business reform agenda. Bayrou’s small centrist MoDem party was in an alliance with Macron’s 14-month-old Republic on the Move (REM) movement, and Bayrou was one of three MoDem ministers in the cabinet. On Wednesday, Macron was hoping to complete a partial reshuffle of his month-old government following parliamentary elections that handed him and his MoDem allies a commanding majority. "I have taken a decision not to be part of the next government," Bayrou said, adding that he would hold a media conference at 3pm GMT. MoDem is facing allegations it used European parliamentary funds to pay assistants actually based in France. The other MoDem minister, former defence minister Sylvie Goulard,...
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