French MPs at each others’ throats over whether they should wear ties in parliament

The new French parliament has just re-opened for business and MPs are already rowing with each other. It's not about the planned labour reforms or any fake jobs scandals but the issue of whether MPs should wear ties to the National Assembly.

Published: 28 June 2017 14:06 CEST

French MPs at each others' throats over whether they should wear ties in parliament

Leftist French MP François Ruffin in the French parliament without a tie! Photo: AFP

French far-left MPs caused a stir among their colleagues in parliament for choosing not to wear a tie at the first meeting of the new French parliament on Tuesday.

Jean Luc Mélénchon's France Insoumise (LFI) party sparked the row after male MPs turned up to the National Assembly's inaugural session without wearing ties.

And although it isn't obligatory for French MPs to wear a tie at the Palais Bourbon, they are considered a traditional part of the “uniform” for men.

France Insoumise MPs vehemently defended their right not to conform with Mélénchon himself comparing his MPs to the working class French Revolutionaries who were known as the “Sans Culottes”, which translates as “without trousers”.

“We've had the Sans Culottes, now we have the Sans Cravates (without ties),” joked Mélénchon.

Photo: AFP

But members of other parties in the Assembly were not amused.

A spokesperson for President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche (REM) party called the move an “insult”.

“Arguing that, 'we're here to represent the French working class so we're not going to wear ties', I think that it's an insult to those people,” said the spokesperson.

Conservative Bernard Accoyer, an ex-president of the French parliament, has weighed in, saying that it represents “a lack of respect for the French people, the voters, democracy and the institution which is at the heart of the Republic.”

La France Insoumise leftist party's Francois Ruffin speaks to the press outside parliament. Photo: AFP

Leader of the far-right National Front party Marine Le Pen mocked the move, saying, “These people think they're Jean Moulin because they're not wearing ties,” referring to the hero of the French Resistance during World War II.

Even though it's not actually against the rules not to wear a tie – with French MPs simply asked to “dress properly” – guards at the French parliament often offer a backup tie to those who turn up without one.

Despite the uproar, there have been some far more dramatic cases of flouting the MPs' tradition of wearing a tie.

In 1985, Jack Lang, then minister for culture, sat in the French parliament wearing a Mao costume and in 1997, another MP arrived in workers overalls.

“I don’t believe in the model… which would involve finding third countries on the African continent or elsewhere where we’d send people who arrive on our soil illegally, who don’t come from these countries,” Macron said.

“We’re creating a geopolitics of cynicism which betrays our values and will build new dependencies, and which will prove completely ineffective,” he added in a wide-ranging speech on the future of the European Union at Paris’ Sorbonne University.

British MPs on Tuesday passed a law providing for undocumented asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed and where they would stay if the claims succeed.

The law is a flagship policy for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which badly lags the opposition Labour party in the polls with an election expected within months.

Britain pays Paris to support policing of France’s northern coast, aimed at preventing migrants from setting off for perilous crossings in small boats.

Five people, including one child, were killed in an attempted crossing Tuesday, bringing the toll on the route so far this year to 15 – already higher than the 12 deaths in 2023.

But Macron had warm words for London when he praised the two NATO allies’ bilateral military cooperation, which endured through the contentious years of Britain’s departure from the EU.

“The British are deep natural allies (for France) and the treaties that bind us together… lay a solid foundation,” he said.

“We have to follow them up and strengthen them, because Brexit has not affected this relationship,” Macron added.

The president also said France should seek similar “partnerships” with fellow EU members.