The first thing I heard when I switched on the French radio this morning was a Green activist berating the world for its lack of urgency in tackling climate change. That’s why, he explained, Youth for Climate France is organising a series of demonstrations this weekend, including one on Saturday in which Extinction Rebellion will be present.
Another protest took place in France today, this one in Marseille where hundreds of angry residents vented their anger at the government’s announcement on Wednesday that as of tomorrow the city’s bars and restaurants must close for two weeks. It was only a few weeks ago that president Macron was playing it cool with coronavirus, explaining that there was no such thing as a risk-free society and France and the rest of the world must learn to live with the virus. Yet Macron has panicked at a resurgence of infections, ignoring the fact that deaths in Marseille – as across the country as a whole – remain low.
As a result, there is a whiff of sedition in the Mediterranean air.
