What with the wall-to-wall media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic it had rather slipped one’s mind that there are other serious issues confronting Europe, but France got a bloody reminder at the weekend.
On Saturday, a knifeman ran amok in the south-eastern town of Romans-sur-Isere, killing two people and wounding five. According to eyewitnesses, the alleged perpetrator, a Sudanese national who was granted asylum in 2017, accompanied his deadly assault outside a boulangerie with cries of ‘Allah Akbar’. It is claimed in the French media that when police searched his flat they found handwritten documents in which he complained of living in ‘a country of non-believers’. Two other Sudanese refugees are being questioned by police, one of whom has reportedly told them that the attacker had ‘resented’ the rules of the lockdown.
Macron’s political opponents lost no time in expressing their outrage at this latest atrocity. The centre-right Les Republicains MP, Eric Ciotti, tweeted a photo of one of the victims, who was killed protecting his 12-year-old son.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in