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Post by magpiejack on Dec 18, 2019 18:11:55 GMT
I hopped over to France a couple of days ago, at one point on a motorway I passed a scene like this with about a 4 mile tailback. It's part of Opération Escargot (Operation Snail) where lorry drivers crawl along and hold up the traffic in protest at Macron's reforms; the hot potato at the moment is his plan to raise the state pension age which is currently 62.  It got me thinking about the difference in protesting in our respective countries. France riots:  Although Extinction Rebellion has bucked the trend, we tend to go on a leisurely walk:  |
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UnseenI
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Post by UnseenI on Dec 18, 2019 18:46:27 GMT
Interesting. I wonder whether transformer is still living in France. Just for the record, there are been some serious riots in London: Notting Hill, Brixton and of course the Poll Tax! |
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Post by magpiejack on Dec 18, 2019 19:41:26 GMT
Interesting. I wonder whether transformer is still living in France. Just for the record, there are been some serious riots in London: Notting Hill, Brixton and of course the Poll Tax! Of course, there have been riots in Britain but I can't think of any for a long time; the Poll Tax riots were in 1990, largely a protest against Thatcher though it was an ill-thought out tax, and the others I think in the 1980s. I remember the Toxteth riots and the 'copycat' riots throughout the country that sprang from that in 1980 too. Toxteth, Notting Hill and Brixton had their origins in racial tensions; I remember that the 'sus law', where the police could stop and search anyone they believed to be acting suspiciously, created a lot of resentment in the communities. I do remember a riot in London about 6 or 7 years ago, but that was over what was perceived in the neighbourhood as police brutality, not a specific political issue. Britain certainly doesn't have country-wide riots on the scale that we now see in France and there are certainly not such high feelings over politics, though Brexit has most people on edge these days to an extent never seen before. Their unions are stronger than in Britain too. |
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Post by magpiejack on Dec 18, 2019 21:02:47 GMT
The 2011 Tottenham riot
It was longer ago than I remembered - 2011. This is what Wiki has to say about it.
"The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London Riots were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, saw looting, arson, and mass deployment of police, and resulted in the deaths of five people.
Protests started in Tottenham, London, following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on 4 August. Several violent clashes with police ensued, along with the destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and businesses, thus rapidly gaining attention from the media. Overnight, looting took place in Tottenham Hale retail park and nearby Wood Green. The following days saw similar scenes in other parts of London, with the worst rioting taking place in Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon, Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham.
From 8 to 10 August, other towns and cities in England (including Birmingham, Leeds, Coventry, Leicester, Derby, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, West Bromwich, Bristol, Liverpool, and Greater Manchester, saw what was described by the media as "copycat violence" - with social media playing a role. By 10 August, more than 3,000 arrests had been made across England, with more than 1,000 people issued with criminal charges for various offences related to the riots. Initially, courts sat for extended hours. There were a total of 3,443 crimes across London that were linked to the disorder. Along with the five deaths, at least 16 others were injured as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated £200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity – which in many cases was already struggling due to the recession – was significantly compromised.
The riots have generated significant ongoing debate among political, social and academic figures about the causes and context in which they happened. Attributions for the rioters' behaviour include social factors such as racial tension, class tension, economic decline and the unemployment that it had brought."
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Post by magpiejack on Dec 23, 2019 20:44:07 GMT
Why the news blackout?
I've been looking for news in English on what is going on in France; nothing. People across the Atlantic are saying the same. I did find one report in the Guardian and another in Times of India, but that was about it.
There is plenty about it in the French press; the strike action is not confined to Paris, it is all over the country. It has severely disrupted rail and bus transport, schools, and now refineries are being blockaded, leading to fears of fuel shortages.
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Post by magpiejack on Dec 23, 2019 21:01:18 GMT
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UnseenI
Eternal Member
"Part Of The Furniture"
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Post by UnseenI on Dec 23, 2019 21:07:17 GMT
I had no idea that things were so bad - news is indeed conspicuous by its absence.
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Post by magpiejack on Dec 25, 2019 20:55:01 GMT
It's still bad. Le Figaro is calling this a 'Noël noire' and there is disruption tomorrow with strikes on the Paris Metro and rail services - at a time when many people are on the move after a Christmas break.
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