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Opening summary: New French PM to take office as country braces for 'block everything' protests
France’s new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu takes office on Wednesday with the country facing a day of protests that are expected to see disruption to transport, education and other services in a show of grassroots anger against president Emmanuel Macron.
As Agence France-Presse reports, the protests – led by a loose left-wing collective called ‘block everything’ – could be a baptism of fire for Lecornu, 39, a close ally of Macron who has served the last three years as defence minister.
Macron named Lecornu as prime minister late on Tuesday, a day after his predecessor François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament, forcing him and his government to resign. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday at midday CEST (11am BST).
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that disruption has already started. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters early on Wednesday that about 50 hooded people had tried to start a blockade in Bordeaux, while in Toulouse, a cable fire that had been stopped quickly had still managed to disrupt traffic between Toulouse and Auch in south-western France.
Retailleau said some actions had also taken place in Paris overnight, though he did not provide details. Paris police said that 75 people had been arrested in the demonstrations so far, but did not give details on where they took place or the reason for the arrests.
Elsewhere, Vinci, a highway operator, reported protests and traffic disruptions on highways throughout France, including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Lyon. Retailleau said 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. French media had reported that 100,000 people were expected to participate in the demonstrations.
“We risk having a mobilisation that will lead to actions all over the country,” he said.
Stay with us for all the day’s developments in France and across Europe. My colleague Jakub Krupa is following news in the Ukraine war after the overnight incursion of Russian drones into Poland. You can read his blog here
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Here is a live stream from the Gare du Nord station in Paris where ‘block everything’ protesters have gathered:
Police stop group of about 1,000 protesters entering Gare du Nord station
France24 reports, citing Paris police, that a “thousand determined individuals” made an “attempted intrusion” at Gare du Nord station. Paris police headquarters said the large group had been stopped from entering the train station by the police.
In the southern port city of Marseille, police stopped 200 demonstrators from blockading a main road, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
French president Emmanuel Macron’s decision to name a close ally as prime minister was a “slap in the face”, said Florent, a protester in Lyon who gave only his first name to the AFP. “We need change,” he said.
Groups of protesters repeatedly tried to block Paris’ beltway during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, reports the Associated Press (AP).
They erected barricades and hurled objects at police officers, blocked and slowed traffic and carried out other protest actions.
In Paris, firefighters removed burnt objects from a barricade set up by students to block traffic near a high school. Paris police said 132 people had been arrested in the demonstrations there so far – an increase on the 75 reported earlier (see opening summary).
“It’s the same shit, it’s the same, it’s Macron who’s the problem, not the ministers,” Fred, a representative for the RATP public transport branch of the CGT union said at a protest in Paris, according to the Associated Press (AP). “The ministers, it’s a problem, but it’s more Macron and his way of working, which means he has to go.”
The ‘block everything’ movement – a broad expression of discontent with no centralised leadership and an ad hoc organisation by social media – sprung up online in May among right-wing groups, researchers and officials said, but has since been taken over by the left and far-left.
In the western city of Nantes, protesters blocked a motorway with burning tires and bins. Police used teargas to disperse people trying to occupy a roundabout in the same city.
In Montpellier, in the south-west, police scuffled with protesters who had set up a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout. A protester carried a banner that read: “Macron resign”. Police used teargas to disperse the protesters, some of whom threw various objects at them, reports the AP.
Explainer: What is the 'block everything' movement?
Here is a bit of background, via the Associated Press (AP) on the ‘block everything’ movement:
The ‘bloquons tout’ (block everything) movement had gathered momentum on social media and in encrypted chats over the summer. Its call for a day of blockades, strikes, demonstrations, and other acts of protest comes as [Emmanuel] Macron – one of the movement’s main targets – installed his fourth prime minister in 12 months.
The movement, which has grown virally with no clear identified leadership, has a broad array of demands – many targeting contested belt-tightening budget plans that [François] Bayrou championed before his demise – as well as broader complaints about inequality.
Calls online for strikes, boycotts, blockades and other forms of protest on Wednesday have been accompanied with appeals to avoid violence.
The spontaneity of ‘block everything’ is reminiscent of the ‘yellow vest’ movement that rocked Macron’s first term as president. It started with workers camping out at traffic circles to protest a rise in fuel taxes, sporting high-visibility vests. It quickly spread to people across political, regional, social and generational divides angry at economic injustice and Macron’s leadership.
Here are some images from the protests coming in today via the newswires:
Two hundred arrested in France as protesters clash with police
According to the Associated Press (AP), the interior minister announced nearly 200 arrests in the first hours of the planned day of nationwide protests in France.
Although falling short of its self-declared intention to ‘block everything’, the protest movement that started online and gathered steam over the summer caused widespread hotspots of disruption, defying an exceptional deployment of 80,000 police who broke up barricades and swiftly made arrests, reports the AP.
Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes and that damage to a power line blocked trains on a line in the south-west. He alleged that protesters were attempting to create “a climate of insurrection”.
Opening summary: New French PM to take office as country braces for 'block everything' protests
France’s new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu takes office on Wednesday with the country facing a day of protests that are expected to see disruption to transport, education and other services in a show of grassroots anger against president Emmanuel Macron.
As Agence France-Presse reports, the protests – led by a loose left-wing collective called ‘block everything’ – could be a baptism of fire for Lecornu, 39, a close ally of Macron who has served the last three years as defence minister.
Macron named Lecornu as prime minister late on Tuesday, a day after his predecessor François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament, forcing him and his government to resign. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday at midday CEST (11am BST).
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that disruption has already started. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters early on Wednesday that about 50 hooded people had tried to start a blockade in Bordeaux, while in Toulouse, a cable fire that had been stopped quickly had still managed to disrupt traffic between Toulouse and Auch in south-western France.
Retailleau said some actions had also taken place in Paris overnight, though he did not provide details. Paris police said that 75 people had been arrested in the demonstrations so far, but did not give details on where they took place or the reason for the arrests.
Elsewhere, Vinci, a highway operator, reported protests and traffic disruptions on highways throughout France, including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Lyon. Retailleau said 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. French media had reported that 100,000 people were expected to participate in the demonstrations.
“We risk having a mobilisation that will lead to actions all over the country,” he said.
Stay with us for all the day’s developments in France and across Europe. My colleague Jakub Krupa is following news in the Ukraine war after the overnight incursion of Russian drones into Poland. You can read his blog here
