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French press review 29 March 2017

French magistrates confirm their intention to investigate Penelope Fillon, the wife of the conservative presidential contender, for her alleged role in defrauding the state of hundreds of thousands of euros. And British Prime Minister Theresa May issues a stern warning to Europe.

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The Fillon family are back on the French front pages.

This time it's the missus, Penelope, who gets the starring role. She was interviewed by investigating magistrates yesterday in connection with suspicions surrounding her role as her husband's well-paid parliamentary assistant. At the end of their little chat, the judges decided to put Mrs Fillon under formal investigation, accused of complicity in the abuse of public funds.

The husband is already under the legal cosh on similar suspicions, with the addition of suspicions of forgery and serious fraud. None of which has stopped him from campaigning as the conservative candidate in next month's presidential first round, even if he is trailing the front-runners, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.

A dastardly left-wing plot to do a good man down

Right-wing paper Le Figaro carries the same story, with the same basic facts, but underlining one important change in the charges - Mrs Fillon is not simply suspected of having done no work to earn the thousands of euros of public money she was paid, she is now also accused of having exaggerated the amount of work she did, or rather, didn't. If you see what I mean.

Le Figaro sees very well. Echoing François Fillon, who's been telling campaign meetings and anyone else who'll listen that he's the innocent victim of a dastardly left-wing plot to prevent the conservatives from returning to power, the right-wing daily says this investigation has been conducted with a total disregard for the sacred separation of the judicial and the political realms, without any respect for the principle under which a man and his missus are innocent until proven otherwise, with the whole show being run at a rate of knots never before seen in the history of French justice, the aim being to deprive François Fillon of his rightful place as French president. So there!

Poor Penelope really is caught between a rock and a hard place since, if we can believe Le Figaro, her claim to have worked her ass off as her husband's assistant clashes with the fact that she was, at the same time, earning 5,000 euros per month working for a literary review and she is also accused of doing nothing to earn that salary, either.

Her lawyer emerged green about the gills after yesterday's long session before the magistrates but he still managed to assure the waiting journalists that the innocence of his client, and of François Fillon, will be established. That's professionalism.

London gives Europe a sharp warning

Left-leaning Libération gives the front-page honours to yesterday's London launch of the divorce proceedings which will see Britain leaving the European Union. The Libé headline reads "Missing you already".

The negotiations are expected to take at least two years. And are likely to be so bitter that Libé could find itself wishing to revise that touching expression of regret.

The cross-Channel papers are frankly scared.

"May's Brexit threat to Europe" reads the main headline in the Guardian, with the story detailing Britlish Prime Minister Theresa May's warning that she will not be bullied into accepting a bad deal and that any attempt to punish the UK would have disastrous consequences for the continent.

The centre-left Independent warns that May has promised an exit from Europe which will be tough, costly and undemocratic which will cause huge losses of money and jobs. "Great Britain will have to try to become the Singapore of Europe," the Independent suggests.

The Times is in sparkling form, with a front-page headline telling Europe "Give us a decent deal or we'll crush you." It's less funny than it sounds, since the Times says May will be in a position to reduce corporate tax to attract businesses from Europe, leaving the union to smash on the rocks of its own inflexibility.

The anti-European Daily Mail salutes Theresa May as "The New Iron Lady," a reference to one of her conservative predecessors, Margaret Thatcher, herself a supporter of European unity.

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