France’s Macron shifts to right on schools and birth rate

French President Emmanuel Macron has come off the fence and opened the way for policies that are unmistakably on the political right. That is the unanimous verdict after he gave a long, televised press conference on Tuesday evening. He promoted uniforms in schools, a crackdown on drugs gangs, and steps to boost France’s declining birth rate. Left-wing commentators deplored his apparent shift from the crafted political balance of recent years.