We hear that protests about poor conditions in French schools and unfairnesses at universities have broadened into general protests about everything from the cost of living to the state of the Middle East. The far left party Insoumise denies responsibility for the state of the streets and the left generally criticise the police for inflaming things with too much tear gas and too many rubber bullets.
What is clear is that the protesters express their anger in a self defeating way. Small businesses are looted and ransacked. Great public buildings are damaged or burned down . Bond markets take fright making it dearer for the government to borrow. Many law abiding hard working people fear for their local shops and property and face the riots and tear gas when they venture out.
These protests make the economic issues worse. They terrify some of the people they say they want to help. They do not offer solutions.
President Macron had a Marie Antoinette moment dancing in a privileged box as Paris highlighted poverty and public sector austerity. His attempts to crack down with curfews on the many who do not riot shows his weakness.The centre of French politics has not held. We await the electoral contest between right and left.
October 20, 2026
Sir John,
I totally disagree on your view on the curfews in some city centres in France, this is to ensure safety for the majority against very violent riot elements in the coming week
October 20, 2026
You only have to look what they are wearing around their necks and the flags they are sporting. This is the beginning of the takeover which no politician wants to address. Import the third world, get the third world. Coming to Britain soon.
October 20, 2026
Interestingly I’ve just received an email from the grid operators about what to do in case of a power cut. Do they know something we don’t know. Actually we do know but again the government is asleep at the wheel.
October 20, 2026
Congrats. on being able to speak to National Grid. After 31st Jan. 2027 no-one’s telephone will work for over an hour during a power cut.
I’ve spoken to National Grid several times during relatively long power cuts and pointed out that our call will be impossible after ‘digital switchover’. Neither VoiP nor mobiles will have more than about an hour’s worth of battery. In 2025 we had a ‘planned’ power cut for 7 hours (for tree cutting).
They privately seem to agree that the move wasn’t thought through by the telecoms industry.
October 20, 2026
Well I notice my bank app is not working to day and my wife’s different bank down too, the national grid under huge pressures due to May’s insane net zero religion (see the excellent Kathryn Porter), air traffic control falling over rather often too then three French supermarket fridges the become cookers. Is this digital warfare or just UK/French incompetence or both perhaps.
October 20, 2026
Relax Ian, Sakara Gold has told us that power cuts will never happen.
We live in hope.
October 21, 2026
They have already happened several times. Heathrow closed several died in the Spanish blackout. The Grid is very poorly managed made ever more unstable by the Greta, Miliband, May religions (prob. by people with PPE, law and classics, and sustainability degrees!
October 20, 2026
What does the email advise? It ought to state that successive Governments have been asleep on the job, ignoring the glaring need for developing oilfields, new productive mining opportunities, authorising funds to make decisions on renewing nuclear power generation, developing higher capacity National Grid, beginning updating signalling in the regional rail networks? I bet it doesn’t? Does it say ‘Goodnight everybody’, but not in those words exactly?
October 20, 2026
Lockdown harder and faster eh Bill.
Send the army to shoot the looters and they will soon stop without a cost to everyone else.
October 20, 2026
They will probably end up shooting the wrong people. Innocent citizens going about a legitimate task will be hit by mistake.
If this was the UK, the soldiers would also bear the legal hazard of human rights violations in the decades to come, whilst the politicians who ordered it were insulated by crown immunity.
October 20, 2026
Are the politicians who ordered the net harm Covid “Vaccines” to be coerced into the arms of millions of people (even young ones and ones who had had Covid already (so clearly did not need them even had they been safe and effective) immune too?
October 20, 2026
“His attempts to crack down with curfews on the many who do not riot shows his weakness.” Surely this is just a statement of the truth from JR.
It is rather likely to backfire as France has about 422 police officers and gendarmes per 100,000 residents (roughly 1 police officer for every 237 people).
Macron dances to Celine Dion while protests rip apart his nation
Republicans Overseas UK Chair Greg Swenson condemns French President Emmanuel Macron for attending a Celine Dion concert – YouTube.
October 20, 2026
France has a state sector of circa 57% (much spent doing net harm or at least little of value) and state control of almost everything like trains and other public services and lots of local Mayor with real power, lots of rather unintegrated immigration and membership of the EU. So exactly what the foolish lefty dope Burnham seems to want.
UK state is about 45% of GDP – it should be more like 20-25% in both France and the UK for a sensible economy. And with immigration limited to skilled workers who (together with their families if any) are not a net cost to other tax payers. The doom loop needs to be reversed but Burnham, Labour and probably Healey too really seem to want to hit Doom and ever more quickly.
October 20, 2026
See also Jacob Rees-Mogg “the French are Revolting” YouTube and Andrew Neil podcasts & videos.
October 20, 2026
Well worn double entendre.
October 20, 2026
LL The State should in fact be no more than 5 – 10% of the economy.
October 20, 2026
Defence, Law and Order, perhaps some controls to enforce fair competition and not that much more.
October 21, 2026
Agreed
October 20, 2026
I assume Burnham wants to force tax payers to assist in the circa Euro 2 trillion bailout France will soon need and wants to rejoin the EU so the UK will be forced to do so? Great plan Burnham should go well. Still his main concerned currently are £2 bus fares, destroying the economy, pork scratchings, bread bap names…
Oh and private parking fines today. What about ULEZ, bus lane, hatch junction and all the many state sector motorist mugging rip offs Burnham?
October 20, 2026
Are these the ‘mostly peaceful protests’ in France.?
I’m told by those with TV license that this is the mainstream media assertion, if they cover it.
I’m also told similar is under way in Italy?
I haven’t taken the time to find out about either in all honesty, but am surprised that Macron has mentioned the ‘far left’ groups.
Here of course, should it happen (not likely now they’ve got their hero in No.10 North) it will be the fault of the ‘far right’ bogeyman who will obviously have upset the saintly left, leaving them no choice but to rip things apart.
They would of course have all their demands met, and every institution, charity, etc. will adopt their stance.
Remember BLM??
October 20, 2026
+1 – which side will our two tier police and justice system be on? Or be told to be by this Government?
October 20, 2026
I agree, the Left is being given a free pass by the media. This despite Mélenchon sailing very close to incitement.
Reply He has condemned violence
October 20, 2026
R to R
I think his language has not been outright condemnation.
October 20, 2026
But not the objective – Melenchon wants the 6th Republic
October 20, 2026
I must say that I have a new found respect and admiration for the various police forces, and army, on the streets of Milan. I think their approach of having multiple police forces serving in parallel at the same time in the same place is really showing its advantages. Good luck to them all.
October 20, 2026
Good morning.
Madame Le Penn understands the problem and knows the solution. Those who love France do not seek to destroy it. Those who do not love France may well be better off somewhere where they feel happiest. Win-win.
October 21, 2026
Many tens of thousands currently living in France ‘ Those who do not love France may well be better off somewhere where they feel happiest ‘ yes so they do their best to come here.
October 20, 2026
France has a major budget crisis, so I think we need to ask where the money’s going. If Vladimir Putin were the mischievous type, he would be asking France if the 26bn euros it sent Ukraine 2022-2025 could perhaps have been better spent. That’s including France’s contribution to the EU’s war continuation subsidy. It will come to well over 30bn Euros by this December. You could fund quite a lot of classroom repairs for that money.
There have been education protests in France in the past, going back to the Jacques Chirac era, and each time the government calmed the situation by agreeing to spend more money on education. My impression is that this time that won’t happen, because there’s no money left. Not to spend on the French anyway, not after spending 26bn+ on that regime at the other end of Europe.
October 20, 2026
The French have a history of angry protest (every autumn, usually). With the increase of intolerance and anger in a country that has been as badly led as almost any other in Europe, one can’t be surprised at this escalation.
The rioters include disaffected youth, gilets jaunes, and probably agents provocateurs from antifa types to government (domestic and foreign) agents.
The destruction of property, especially ordinary people’s property, is dreadful. Even Melenchon has criticised this.
A major problem is that the politicians in power do not look foremost to looking after their country and its people. They have their own globalist agendas, and the political/judicial system does not allow the people to call them to account in a timely manner (in France, look at the lawfare waged against Le Pen).
If the “real” right gets into power in France and Germany, then things may change across Europe. But meanwhile we live in very unsettled times, especially if governments use the riots to crack down on everyone’s freedoms. Incidentally, the riots are taking place in many countries, from Spain to Albania.
October 21, 2026
The frustration the young grow up with never doing well in wars shows itself when they can vent their violent feelings in the public places.
October 20, 2026
Have courage mon braves. The French are showing the way forward. Adopt their lesson.
As Lord John pointed out recently our British system led to the Blood Scandal, Horizon, Grenfell and all the rest. Simply because those in charge knew they could obfuscate, conceal, lie and use the legal system to drag things out forever.
Consider a new French riot based system. When considering legislation or the Parliamentary reaction to a major screw-up the Ministers and senior Civil Servants knew their homes and offices would be burnt to the ground if they did not provide effective action PDQ. Take down the cladding within the week.
Take away the opportunity to obfuscate, conceal, lie and drag feet and their homes will remain intact. We need Parliamentarians and their servants to fix their mistakes quickly rather than cover up and do nothing. The French are showing the way. With power comes responsibility – to fix screw-ups quickly – as Lord John says the private sector does.
Reply Bad government does not justify violence
October 20, 2026
Jim,
The French are certainly very experienced at rioting.
As regards ‘justification’, change is often the result of violence. The French revolution being a prime example.
October 20, 2026
reply to reply …..wouldn’t it depend on just how bad does the government get with no correction possible?
October 20, 2026
Whilst I certainly do not agree with street violence at all, I am afraid this is what tends to happen when politicians continually refuse to do anything about the serious problems people raise, time, after time, after time.
No you cannot and should not have a simple minority being able to change Government policy, but there should be a system where you should be able to at least make your point, and be listened to.
Yes there are a few nutters about who will always want to cause trouble, and certainly they should feel the full force of the law, but mass protests are usually caused by the complete frustration within the system, which then builds up into real anger until you reach a breaking point.
Sadly many politicians seem to feel they are above listening to the concerned electorate, let alone answering their real concerns.
October 20, 2026
It would be interesting to hear exactly what the riots are being caused by, as opposed to what the media and government spokes persons report it is about.
The only way to get to the core of what is driving these uprisings and the massive damage, is to be inside the groups responsible and hear their reasons directly. Hear what they say without the filters of self awareness that make people say what they think others are prepared to hear.
In other words we want some honesty. We want to know exactly why these people are destroying their cities and the societies they rely on.
October 20, 2026
Protest has been hijacked by professional agitators so the subject matter is diluted (When Palestine is mentioned you know that the protest is off message) and then looting has nothing to do with protest. Chancers taking advantage of chaos and opportunity.
France has a rich heritage of destructive protest but the looting is an unwelcome addition which the police and army need to crack down hard on.
October 20, 2026
What we are witnessing is the result of years of un-controlled immigration into Europe added to the policies of the Far-Left. (Coming to Britain soon)
Yet all we ever hear from our government is the imaginary threat of the Far-Right
October 20, 2026
Talking of failing governments – HMG keeps on telling us that this will be a hard winter. No they’re not bothered about the cold weather, they expect shortages in many things, from gas and electricity to supermarket staples.
They haven’t given any estimates of how many their inactivity will kill off because of their policies and no-action on energy, as well as having made it very hard for farmers to provide for us, yet they push their various lamentable vaccines on us as though this will somehow make up for everything else.
Incredibly, they appear to see us the equivalent of battlefield fodder – all too expendable.
October 20, 2026
@Bryan Harris. Yes, being seen as battlefield fodder is odious. I hope the Remembrance Sunday services are not going to be turned into jingoistic war lust affairs this year. I’m going to wear a white poppy.
I fear the CoE clergy often take their opinions from the BBC and many priests assume they speak for God even on matters political. Last week I listened to a priest insinuating in his sermon, that God was pro us rejoining the EU.
October 20, 2026
it’s in the genes like 1789 with the added mix of a colonial past causing overcrowding in the cities – also with too much shownanship leading to waste at the top and then not taking care of the finances – it’s Macron’s ‘let them eat cake’ moment – but it could happen anywhere
October 20, 2026
It is simply not worthwhile to try and ‘explain’ the French riots with ‘it’s the French, what do you expect’.
There is an overarching theme to this: the fear of “Teh Right” and/or being seen as ‘right’ has led to an increasing blurring of the differences between “green” and socialist policies, with the ‘acceptable’ left-wing parties now becoming more and more parties of islamists. The recent election in Berlin demonstrate this nicely.
As long as our governing class, together with the MSM, support the ‘fear of being seen to be ‘right’ while closing their eyes to the excesses by left-wing and socialist groups, this’ll happen here as well – and later, nobody knows why or what could have been done …
October 20, 2026
For a full and comprehensive explanation of what is happening in France, may I recommend watching the account on YouTube by Ms Birbalsingh of Michaela School, Wembley, who does a masterly job of the whole sorry thing.
An explanation of why young rich students, who you would not expect to be involved, are also attacking their own schools makes up a part of the explanation.
October 20, 2026
The French have always been prone to protest: I have sat for a good few hours in my life on the motorway between Charles de Gaulle airport and the centre of Paris because it was blocked by farmers on tractors. However, what is going on now is in rather a different league. It should make politicians in all countries stop and think what happens when the people they are meant to be serving feel totally irrelevant to the actions of the State.
You say that the protesters are behaving in a self-defeating way that will make the economic and social issues they are complaining about worse, but surely that is true of any rioting of this kind, because the perpetrators feel that they have no place in the system, and nothing could make things worse for them.
The French Government appear to be offering no solutions apart from arresting people.
October 20, 2026
What is happening in France is appalling, but it is the direct result of those in power refusing to listen to the voters. Traditionally, we in the UK don’t riot in the same way. But if the Government continues to ignore what voters want, it could/might happen here. Immigration has put our public services under pressure: our GPs, NHS,
Housing, roads and welfare. No one I know objects to immigration, but they object to illegal immigration and to too many legal immigrants. Far too many don’t want to integrate with our values and standards. How many would fight for the UK in a war? Yet successive governments have done nothing to stop it.
At what point in an overcrowded, overtaxed and over-regulated UK, do the voters get angry enough to riot, even though rioting is self-defeating, as France is showing us now?
October 20, 2026
The only surprise is we have not seen similar here. Then again with this Parliament with its majority in support of their appointed Government and their stroking Burnham’s ‘ego’ to ensure him he is on the right path – nothing no longer surprises.
But the again the UK is we were told by the WA people is a EU Colony and has no say, it is rule by the unelected, the unaccountable. So what could a riot in the UK achieve?
The latest Orders from above – Labour(that means Parliament, its chosen Government) has confirmed every farm and food firm in Britain will have to follow EU rules under the SPS deal, even if they never sell a single product in the EU. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood asked whether farms and food manufacturers that “do not trade with the EU and only trade within Britain” would be bound. Defra minister Stephen Morgan replied:
“The SPS agreement with the EU means that Great Britain will apply certain rules in line with the EU. These arrangements will apply domestically, whether or not a business trades directly with the EU.”
So who rules, what Democracy, what’s the point of Elections when the electorate have no choice at any level!
October 20, 2026
Taxes and public sector spending are considerably higher in France than in Britain. It is an object lesson in the reality that however much a government taxes and spends in the public sector it cannot buy a good or well run public sector – all that happens is it reduces the ability of individuals to spend their own money and create a wealthier and better society.
October 20, 2026
La plume est plus forte
October 20, 2026
I hope I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that some form of violent protest over cost of living, illegal migration, petty crime, drug culture, poor government, is building up in a significant number of our younger generation. A close 45 year old relative has said openly that he wants and expects mass protests to make change happen. I always considered him fairly grounded, holds a really good job, well educated, gentle indeed and likes life. Then this came out. I’ve obviously made the point that violent protest never makes things better. What worries me is that social media may be working overtime to generate this discontent. I hope I’m wrong.
October 20, 2026
The Conservative leadership would do well to watch the YouTube video “Never again” by Andrew Lawrence
October 20, 2026
Has there really been public sector austerity in France ? Their national debt and deficit suggests otherwise. It is a fantasy like the 14 years of Tory austerity the Labour Party are always moaning about .