It was a peaceful weekend in France apparently. One broadcaster described the latest protests as ‘calm’ and Le Monde said they unfolded ‘without serious incident’. Tell that to the 53 police officers who were injured in clashes with demonstrators, 1,513 of whom were arrested as trouble broke out across the country. Laurent Nunez, the Interior Minister, said that in several towns and cities the police had been subjected  to an ‘extremely high level of violence’.

This Saturday is Halloween and social media is full of threats and taunts about bringing terror to the Parisian bourgeoisie

This Saturday is Halloween and social media is full of threats and taunts about bringing terror to the Parisian bourgeoisie

In Grenoble, for example, hundreds of far-left extremists were beaten back by police who resorted to tear gas and baton charges. In the mayhem, several shops were vandalised and a pizzeria and a supermarket were ransacked. That’s a ‘serious incident’, certainly for the employees who, like so many shopkeepers in France now live in a state of almost perpetual fear.

Some commentators in France have started using that dreaded word ‘lockdown’ again. Just as during the pandemic of 2020/21, curfews have been imposed in many towns and cities, shops and restaurants have pulled down their shutters and people have stopped going out. At least public transport kept running during Covid, which isn’t the........

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