Jean-Marie Le Pen suspended from FN

THE FOUNDER of the Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been suspended from his own party after refusing to attend a disciplinary meeting.

The far-right party said Le Pen's role as honorary president is under review. He founded the FN in 1972 and led the party until 2011.

Party leader Marine Le Pen, his daughter, said before today's disciplinary hearing that her father should "no longer be able to speak in the name of the FN".

Jean-Marie, who is 86, attracted controversy earlier this year when he repeated a comment he first made in 1987 that the Holocaust was a "detail of history".

He has been convicted on several occasions for inciting racial hatred - and also recently called France's Spanish-born prime minister Manuel Valls "the immigrant".

His daughter has tried to steer the party away from its past and convey a cleaner image to attract new voters - and keep her father out of the political picture.

Le Pen senior told reporters this evening: "I've been disowned."