French ballot shows Brexit battle ahead

London

FORMER French prime minister François Fillon convincingly won on Sunday the country's centre-right presidential primary. The result is significant as Mr Fillon - who has made "Brexit" a key platform of his campaign - now stands a good chance of becoming the next French president replacing socialist François Hollande.

Mr Fillon, like his defeated conservative primary opponent Alain Juppé, has made Brexit an election issue by arguing, for instance, that the 2003 Les Touquet migration agreement - which allows the United Kingdom to operate border controls on the French side of the channel - should be scrapped.