Anger as French PM shows dog photo to colleagues in parliament

French prime minister Gabriel Attal previously promised opposition parties in his country’s National Assembly that he would always listen to them, but now he’s been having a ‘ruff’ time (sorry) after ignoring comments from the leader of the Socialist group, Boris Vallaud, to show his colleagues puppy photos instead.

Of course, everyone loves a cute image of a dog, but there’s a time and a place for it, and in this case, assembly members were debating a motion of no confidence in Attal’s own government, so it was probably best he listened.

In fact, according to The Times, Vallaud was raising the rather serious subject of the health of French workers.

The opposition member fumed: “Monsieur Le Premier Ministre, you are busy having a laugh with your ministers while 152 workers died in France last year, while workplace illnesses are soaring and workers’ health should be one of your objectives.”

Vallaud was just as scathing after he learned Attal was looking at a photo of a black Chow Chow, telling CheckNews: “The next time I ask him a question, I will bark and scratch my ears with my feet.”

Ouch.

The French PM’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Libération (the outlet behind CheckNews), and the confidence motion did not pass in the end.

However, that hasn’t stopped criticism and mockery being levelled at Attal online. The French division of Greenpeace used a picture of a dog to draw the PM’s attention to a tweet calling on him to take action against an energy company, for example.

Other tweets branded the incident “unreal”, while Vallaud’s colleague Iñaki Echaniz tweeted: “No, this is not a fake! … Lunaire.”

‘Lunaire’ roughly meaning ‘incredible’ or out of this world, by the way.

Attal was made France's youngest ever prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron last month.

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