Macron’s Covid passports are causing intergenerational warfare

The protest movement against Emmanuel Macron’s Covid passport, which comes into full effect today, continues to grow in France.

On Saturday over 200,000 men, women and children took to the streets, more than twice the number that demonstrated when the protests began on July 17. As a veteran of the Paris protests, I’ve found one of the most interesting aspects to be the reactions of passers-by as the cortège files through the streets of the capital. Some clap, some look on in contempt, others shout words of encouragement and a few hurl terms of abuse.

There’s no doubt the Covid passport has divided the people, and while the protest movement may be diverse, encompassing all colours, classes and ages (although I would estimate the average age of the protestor to be in their 30s) there is more uniformity on the other side of the argument.

Those most supportive of the passport are Baby Boomers or, as the French call them, 68ers. When the Covid crisis struck France in March 2020 I forecast on Coffee House that Macron’s virus strategy would be to ‘sacrifice’ the nation’s young to ensure the support of the elderly at next year’s election.