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Naughty, naughty Hervé Gaymard

Alexis

By Alexis,
in The Complete France Post Bag

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Alexis Newbie

Alexis

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Have you been following this?  The Minister who is renting a 600m² flat in Paris and the Government are paying the rent.  It is because of him that the new rules fixing the surface area of flats for Ministers have come in..80m² for a couple then 20m² for each child.

Anyway, the other day it was all about him having a flat in Paris which he rents out.....

This morning, it is all about him having a property in Brittany and another in Savoire.

Only yesterday, I think, he was saying that if he hadn't been the 'poor' son of a cobbler and had been an aristo, he would have inherited a house and wouldn't need to rent!

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Iceni Newbie

Iceni

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"The Minister who is renting a 600m² flat in Paris and the Government are paying the rent."

No, Alexis, Govts don't pay for anything - the taxpayers foot the bill. It's not so different in the UK where MPs receive a massive annual allowance for nubile research assistants, London residence etc. This is not means tested so the aristo receives the same as the cobbler's son.

To paraphrase the late, great, womaniser JFK "think not what you can do for yr country, think what yr country can do for yr bank balance".

John

not

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Alexis Newbie

Alexis

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I just can't spell Savoire.  Savoie.  Savore.  I'm going to have to get le carte out.

His maison, facing the sea, valued at 300,000€ here in Bretagne looks a bit small for someone with eight kidlets.

The one in the other place valued at 400,000€ looks bigger.

So that is alright then.

I must say he looks perfect for his job of Minister for the Economy.  Just think how much he must have saved to buy all his houses.  Perhaps he just put aside his family allowance each month?

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Rita Newbie

Rita

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8 Kidlets!!!!!!!

Good grief, no wonder he needs all that space and all those properties.

Most of us can only afford to bring up 1 or possibly 2, should have been born into a poor cobbling family!

At least we now know that when we get there in the next couple of weeks where our taxes will be going to.

Still looking forward to the big move though!

Have a good day snow or shine,

Rita

 

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Miki Newbie

Miki

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8 Kidlets!!!!!!!

Rita,

With that many kids they have hit the jackpot as far as Family Allowance is concerned and more importantly.........earned themselves a Gold medal in the process.

Oh yes, for the glory of France, turn out the right number of children and one is awarded a medal of congrats,  Bronze, Silver or Gold, not sure if is still obligatory to wear it  when out shopping though

 

 
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Alexis Newbie

Alexis

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Been misleading you I am afraid!  Now that I am actually in front of the telly and not in the kitchen stuffing my face and just listening to it blaring in the dining room, I can tell you that he has TWO MORE FLATS.

Apparently, he is going on telly tonight to explain!

Oh, good news.  He is increasing in size his house up here!  Phew, that is a relief.  Wouldn't want to think of the kidlets having to share a room.....

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SaligoBay Newbie

SaligoBay

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French finance minister quits over luxury flat

Kim Willsher in Paris
Saturday February 26, 2005
The Guardian

France's beleaguered finance minister resigned yesterday after further damaging claims about his family's living arrangements destroyed his political credibility his and support.

Hervé Gaymard had been ordered to explain to the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, "by the end of the week" why he had moved his family into a £9,800-a-month flat at the taxpayers' expense when he already owned a Paris apartment.

Instead, he handed in his resignation after just three months in the job. He apologised for his error, but rebuked the French media for "harassing" his family.

"I have made errors and I am taking the consequences," he told French television, "but I really do believe that the level of polemic over this does not correspond with the reality of events.

"After all, I have not committed any crime or offence."

The French are used to subsidising high-living politicians: the former socialist president François Mitterrand kept a mistress and child during his 14 years in power. The current president, Jacques Chirac, was accused of running up enormous grocery bills while he was mayor of Paris.

But Mr Gaymard, 44, a close ally of Mr Chirac, appears to have pushed public generosity over the limit.

The scandal erupted 10 days ago when it emerged that Mr Gaymard, who is charged with cutting public spending, had moved into a luxury 600sq metre (6,460sq ft) duplex in Paris's so-called "Golden Triangle" just off the Champs-Elysées, with his wife and eight children.

The property was originally two separate flats and cost at least £10,000 to convert, plus other work which allegedly included turning one of the kitchens into a gym, and enclosing three parking spaces for cars and bicycles.

This - and the €14,000-a-month rent and numerous other expenses - was subsidised by the state.

Under a media onslaught, Mr Gaymard, who had urged all government departments to tighten their belts, moved out of the apartment immediately and promised to reimburse the money spent on it.

But on Thursday he found himself in deeper water after being accused of lying during an interview with the magazine Paris-Match in which he complained that he was a victim of his humble origins.

"I have always lived humbly; I do not have money," he said. "Obviously, if I weren't the son of a shoe salesman but of a rich bourgeois, I wouldn't have a housing problem. 

I would own my own apartment, and this thing wouldn't have happened."

It was revealed a few hours later that despite his protestations, Mr Gaymard is indeed a property owner.

The newspaper Libération revealed that he not only owns his own apartment in Paris - a 200sq metre four-bedroom flat in the heart of the capital's Latin Quarter which he rents out for €2,300 a month - but also has two houses: one in Brittany and a country farm in the Savoy region.

It said he had another two flats in the province.

The revelations led to a renewed call for his resignation from across the political spectrum.

The scandal broke at a time when France is suffering from a public deficit which violates EU rules, has 10% unemployment, and suffers widespread disillusionment with the political elite.

Before the row, Mr Gaymard had called for the country to "detox on public spending".

Although he is a close friend of President Chirac, Mr Gaymard, whose full title was minister of economy, finance and industry, had become an embarrassment to the centre-right government.

Nicolas Sarkozy, head of Mr Chirac's party, the UMP, criticised his behaviour.

"French people who are confronted with difficulties in daily life might be asking questions and judging what has happened with a certain severity," he said before the resignation.

François Hollande, leader of the Socialist party, said the affair was a threat to the "credibility of the entire government".

In an editorial Libération declared: "Nothing is more contemptible than a manhunt, but nothing is more detestable than a lie from a minister for personal and not state reasons. Liar or martyr, take your pick."

Mr Gaymard's replacement was named last night as Thierry Breton, chief executive of France Telecom. He will be France's fourth finance minister in a year.  

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