French election candidate Francois Fillon apologises for 'mistake'
The beleagured conservative refuses to withdraw from the presidential race as he denies acting illegally in employing his wife.
Wednesday 22 February 2017 10:20, UK
French presidential candidate Francois Fillon has denied that he acted illegally over allegations he paid his wife for a "fake job".
The conservative, who is fighting for his political life after newspaper revelations, was speaking at a news conference.
He told reporters that "all acts evoked (in the press) are legal and transparent".
Mr Fillon has steadily lost ground in opinion polls since a satirical magazine first reported that the former prime minister had paid his wife Penelope €830,000 (£710,000) for work she did not appear to have done.
Le Canard Enchaine said she was paid from state funds between 1998 and 2013 for working as a parliamentary assistant, but could find no evidence any work had been carried out.
Since then, French investigators have widened a corruption probe to include two of Mr Fillon's children, according to sources.
Mr Fillon apologised for the "error" in judgement he made in hiring his family members but continued to deny his wife was paid for a fake job.
"I apologise to the French people," he said. "It was a mistake."
But he went on to say he has no intention of withdrawing from the election, which takes place in April and May, as his wife's job had been vital for his role as an elected official.
The 62-year-old said he had no plans to pay back the money his wife received from public funds.
Mr Fillon added that he would be publishing online details of payments his wife received, and said that on Monday evening he would be starting a new phase of his election campaign.
"I am the only candidate which can bring about a national recovery," he said.
He claimed he didn't respond immediately to the accusations as he needed time for them to sink in.
The scandal that has engulfed Mr Fillon has seen
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is currently in top place in the polls for the first round vote.
But analysts say many of those who vote for other candidates will switch to Mr Macron if he and Ms Le Pen make it through to the last round.