French riots

Wednesday

Toby Young

Beware left-wing fake news

We hear a lot from the lanyard class about the harm that mis- and disinformation causes, from anti-migration protests to climate denialism. But they take it for granted that it is always right-wing grievances that are fuelled by fake news, never left-wing ones. Now that the unrest in France has spread to the rest of the Continent, fuelled by misleading claims about school cuts and Israeli genocide, I think we can confidently say that left-wing mis- and disinformation is more dangerous. Take the alleged cuts to the French education budget, the focal point of the student protests. In fact, the French government’s spending on schools is set to rise next year by €1.1 billion. That’s a 1.

Monday

Gavin Mortimer

The specter of civil war haunts France

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 In Grenoble, for example, hundreds of far-left extremists were beaten back by police who resorted to tear gas and baton charges.

Tuesday

Kara Kennedy

Why the French are right to riot

Being twenty-something in the twenties is realizing that however much the world has progressed, it is overwhelmingly likely that in my life I will get less than what my parents got. I will work for a longer portion of my life and I will work more hours per week for less money. On the subject of houses, I will never be able to buy one. This isn’t me wallowing in self-pity; it's just the reality. House prices in Britain have more than doubled (53 percent) in the last decade, and the average deposit needed for first-time buyers in London currently stands at $140,000. If you can scrape that together, you’ll have to be quick before the Russians or Qataris buy up the whole development anyway.