French Premier Calls Le Pen Liar, Making His Own Dubious Claim

(Bloomberg) -- French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen “tells a lie a day, and if she speaks every hour then it's a lie every hour,” Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Speaking to reporters at his Matignon residence, Cazeneuve cited her claims that immigration is rising. “There is no increase in immigration in France, that's a lie,” he said.

According to the Interior Ministry, the number of residency permits handed out in 2016 rose 4.6 percent from a year before to 227,550, though the number of permits handed out for family reasons -- the most criticized by Le Pen's National Front -- fell 2.3 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Kevin Costelloe

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