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JEAN-FRANCOIS COPE defeated former prime minister Francois Fillon by a handful of votes Monday to take the helm of France’s right-wing UMP party after an election that saw both sides trade accusations of fraud and left the opposition in disarray.
The firebrand Cope took 50.03 per cent of the vote, edging Fillon by only 98 votes to succeed former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the party’s internal electoral commission announced.
The 48-year-old Cope, who pushed the more populist agenda during the campaign, promptly invited Fillon to work with him and stressed that his “hands were outstretched and his arms wide open.”
Fillon himself stopped short of rejecting the result but mentioned “many irregularities” in the electoral process and said it was evidence of a deep rift in the party, six months after Sarkozy lost the presidency to Socialist Francois Hollande.
The public slanging match reached such a pitch that #UMP became the top trending hashtag on the French edition of Twitter, where the candidates were the targets of a deluge of mockery.
UMP party heavyweight Alain Juppe, Sarkozy’s foreign minister, pleaded with the pair to put a stop to their supporters’ “invectives” and warned that “the very existence of the UMP is in question”.
“The movement has emerged divided and thus weakened by this excessive confrontation. Throughout the campaign, it has been less a question of the future of the UMP and more about the two candidates’ obsession with 2017,” when the next presidential election will be held, Juppe wrote on his blog.
Delighted by the debacle, the UMP’s Socialist rivals mocked the party’s struggles.
“This tragicomedy is a bad vaudeville act that does no honour to French democracy,” said Bruno Le Roux, the head of the Socialists’ parliamentary faction.
Cope is not even certain to be the party’s next candidate as Sarkozy – whom polls say most UMP supporters want to have another tilt at the presidency — has not ruled out a return to politics.
Both Fillon, 58, and Cope are advocates of free market policies and economic reform. But they differ on social issues, with Cope sharing Sarkozy’s tough-talking approach to immigration and Islam.
Aides to Cope, who accused Fillon supporters of “ballot stuffing” and “major fraud”, had said before the commission announced the final results that he was 1,000 votes ahead of Fillon.
The electoral commission said around 175,000 votes were cast.
Cope will be taking over a party well-placed to capitalise on Hollande’s slump in popularity and the economic gloom engulfing France, which Moody’s stripped of its AAA status yesterday, becoming the second ratings agency to downgrade the country’s top bond credit rating.
He will also face a difficult task in uniting the party after a bitter battle that delighted the UMP’s rivals.
“It is obvious that whoever is elected president of the UMP will have no legitimacy whatsoever given that he will be in charge of a party broken in two,” said Florian Philippot, deputy leader of the far-right National Front.
Fillon, who was prime minister for five years under Sarkozy, had gone into the vote as the marginal favourite, hoping to sell himself as a unity candidate capable of attracting centrist voters.
He accused his rival of opportunism, while seeking to portray himself as an experienced statesman — a stance that prompted Cope to dismiss him as the “Hollande of the right,” in a reference to the president’s perceived lack of charisma and reputation for dithering.
Cope has taken up where Sarkozy left off, unabashed in his bid to woo voters from the National Front, whose record strong score at this year’s presidential election split the right-wing vote and torpedoed Sarkozy’s re-election bid.
Cope last month published “A Manifesto for an Uninhibited Right”, in which he lambasted a culture of “anti-white racism” amongst immigrant communities in impoverished urban areas.
At first I thought who would bother making two trips to the airport! But if you live near the airport and drive your bags the night before,you may be more likely to take public transport the next morning instead of a taxi saving some cash. Or also avoiding extras in a taxi. Not for everyone, but helpful for some.
I’ve just read through it in full and it’s only for those travelling from 6am and 8am the following morning. It’s an odd one, I guess it’s to ease the queues in the morning when they are their peak but I can’t really see it being any kind of game changer for them.
Imagine the stress alleviated for families and large groups being able to dump the bags the night before. Well played Aer Lingus.
Nice to see them thinking outside the box. Saw a great idea in Hong Kong, you could check into your flight and check your bags in at the metro station , thought it was a brilliant idea.
Now all we have to do is build a Metro.
That actually used to be more common. Until the late 90s, you could check in for a flight from Gatwick at Victoria Station. Security concerns saw that kind of service rapidly withdrawn.
The service in Hong Kong is handy though. I was able to give them my bags at 11am for a flight that was close to midnight.
You can do the same at British Airways desk at Victoria train station London for years now…
Swiss also offer the same service from mainline stations anywhere in Switzerland. So much more relaxing
Cracking idea!
Great idea, especially as you could do it for elderly parents or for families with a lot of young kids. One less thing to worry about on the day.
Not sure I’d trust that my bags were on the same flight as me the next morning though!!
I hate standing at the baggage belt after arriving wondering will my bag appear!
Great idea… Kudos to Aer Lingus, super handy to drop the bag, stay at an airport hotel and not have to lug it down semi-conscious in the morning. It’s great I can pre-order lunch for the flight now too. Sure it saves them costs and helps customers.
Good idea if you spend the night close to airport and don’t have to travel from too far away
Driving to the airport TWICE to save hassle ????
Is it April 1st.?
My thoughts exactly Magoo…………
People who live outside Dublin often stay at airport hotels the night before if they have an early flight. That means just a short walk to the terminal and an easier morning the day after.
Wouldn’t work for me because I the amount if crap I forget and have to put in last minute
Thinking ourside the box!
Yeah, fantastic idea. It’ll save so much hassle.
Pretty good idea. But what about the toiletries that you need that would be packed? I’d need every single thing in that bag :-)
Yea, but I need loads to keep me at least presentable lol
The world’s favourite budget airline will soon follow suit with a mandatory 24 hour advance baggage check-in, or a large fee per bag to check in any later than that.
Ba dom Cha!
…. FAIL
That idea is absolutely spiffing. Be great to just saunter into the airport and head straight for the duty free bypassing the queues
If only one person brings the bags to the airport for the check-in, surely they can’t honestly answer the baggage security questions?
I don’t see the value of this to be honest. Schelp to the airport the night before and then schlep back the following morning to get the flight?
Great if you’ve to stay in an airport hotel the night before or leaving car in long-term parking. 45 mins of extra rest rather than stress of morning departures.
Hats off to aer fungus, leading the way :)
True it would be a hassle.. They should offer curbside check in, paying to park and finding a space would be a hassle.
Do not see the benefit..
Fine if you live at the airport..
Why in gods name would you want to drive twice to the airport.
I would guess The thinking behind this is not about the consumer.
It takes me 10 mins max to get to Cork airport, it’s a handy service for some obviously but not all.
I’d like to think the marketing people at Dublin airport hotel had a hand in coming up with this idea… kudos if they did!
Used this two weeks ago and it worked really well and there was no extra charge for it
Nice idea, hope they are charging nothing for this? Great especially when going on holiday with flights very early that dreaded two hour rule just to spend it on blooming queues. Hope it takes off with all air lines:-)
How about proper self-service check in facilities.
Hong Kong airport has a very convenient city centre check in desk. No need to drag your bags all the way to the airport.
This is so poorly thought out.
Location: If it’s only for Dublin airport then it’s not like it’s easy to just call by and drop off your bags.
If you live nearby you will either need to live on the very few domestic bus routes that go near the airport or you will need to drive. If you do drive, you will obviously be forced into parking in the DAA’s rip-off car park. You won’t be allowed to use the set-down lane and you’re not going to use the independent Quickpark just to drop off some bags. It may not be the reason, but I’m sure best buds Aer Lingus & the DAA considered the extra revenue they would get from parking fees.
For visitors, it’s too far out with sh*t transport, and our taxis are more expensive than many other European destinations. It would could work in other more central airports though.
Timing: Only for flights 6am-8am? Why would you get rid of your bag the evening before you go to bed, then have a shower and put on a new change of clothes the next morning? You’d want to be bringing another small suitcase with you. So this narrows it down to people carrying two or more bags.
And to be honest, the majority of people I see when I go through at that time are going for short-haul trips (a lot of day trippers) and I don’t see much luggage being checked in anyway. The more holiday type flights where you would really need a big suitcase seem to go later.
If they let you drop your bag off in the morning for evening flights, it would be more popular because you’d already be dressed for the day and wouldn’t need as much of your stuff. You could do whatever you wanted without being weighed down. But people already use hotel luggage facilities, so if you’re a visitor, you’re going to be a lot closer to the hotel you just woke up in than a crappy airport in the sticks. Going out there and back to Dublin to do some sightseeing would be pointless.
I just don’t see what’s in it for them, let alone the passengers, apart from parking fees. Maybe it’s just to redeploy check-in staff somewhere else during the busy morning period. Which is understandable, but let’s not act like Aer Lingus are doing us a favour.
I’m sure that this would be a great service for families or people lots of luggage, both of which are a thorn in the side of us single, one bagged passengers! It may not be convenient for all passengers to do it but it would benefit everyone!Reduce queue time and less likelihood of screaming children in the queue at that hour of the morning! I won’t complain!
Used this two weeks ago and it worked out really well and there was no charge for it
Good idea.Saves stress.
The only benefit I could see in this is for transatlantic passengers (passengers flying transatlantic are more likely to have lots of luggage) and transatlantic passengers also have the extra headache of having to do US immigration as well as security, but since Aer Lingus’ first transatlantic flight isn’t until 10:45am and this is only valid for passengers travelling between 6-8am, I can’t see much use in it to be honest!
Personally I believe the biggest headache at airports for families is security, rather than luggage check in. More than likely you’re going to have to cue up at the airline desk to get boarding cards and resolve seat assignment issues(luggage or no luggage)
Yes it would be a great idea we used it in Canada and it takes away all the pressure on travel day especially if you are travelling with children
Jaysus dearg doom, it may suit some people, even if its only a few and if it does no harm done and fair play, hardly think the extra few euro for parking from the limited number of people availing of the service is a major concern for either parties! Most airport hotels have free shuttles for guests so it wouldn’t cost them a penny to take it up and back to the airport and as many people said, if you’re travelling with kids it’d be a great help. You’d swear there was a charge for it or you had to do it! Chill out my friend….
People travelling with Aer Lingus in Europe should be aware that if you pay for a second check-through bag, you don’t get any extra weight allowance. Pay €15 for 1 bag – get 20kg, pay additional €15 for second bag – no additional weight allowance. i.e. You can have two bags, but between them you can only have 20kg.
This isn’t very clear at all when booking… if the cumulative weight is more than 20kg, the weight of the second bag is charged as “Excess Baggage Fees” (despite the fact that you’ve already paid for a second bag…..). The Excess Baggage charge is €15 per kg!!! :O
This is a really non-sensical and unfair policy to begin with, but the fact that people don’t know about it means you can get very, very stung at the check-in desk!
Travel all the way to our airport that has no underground or rail link twice in two days!! I don’t think so thanks.
Schlep….. I love it!
Why only dublin. What bout cork and shannon!!!!!!!!!
Crown Plaza Hotel Singapore do this. Go downstairs and check your bags in. Go back upstairs and watch TV from the bath in your room until gate opens. Get out of bath, put on clothes, go through efficient security and board flight. Sweetness.
Great idea… How much extra does this cost?
Yes…I am sure they would charge you fot that sadly…
I think it’s a great idea you could park in the set down area in the departures one stay in the car the other person bring the bags in and checks in and you don’t have all that hassle next morning it’s a winner for my family
I think this is a great idea! For motorbike users, it’s great to be able to use public transport at sociable hours to drop off luggage, and then get the full benefit of driving a motorbike in early morning traffic to the airport without worrying about luggage.
Although the return journey… Hmm
Brilliant idea
they have lost my luggage twice so i would not be trusting them to do it,, if they cant get in on plane same few hours i have checked in ,, god only knows where it could end up over nite,, that’s a no from me,,,
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