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Policing and provoking violence: the French state’s gamble
NICK WRIGHT argues that the deliberate escalation of confrontations on the streets to turn the public against the movement may be in the process of backfiring — while the British system is far too wise to risk it
Riot police brutally attack protesters in Paris, last Thursday

MASSIVE demonstrations, widespread strikes, violent clashes with the police and an air of crisis means Charles Windsor and his long-time consort were stuck in Blighty. With the full pomp of the French state unable to guarantee the passage of King Charles the Unready, President Macron has suffered an enormous blow.

Charles III was due a feast at Versailles. In the intervening centuries since the French beheaded their own king the palace has largely been spared violence — but this time the Mairie in Bordeaux was set alight while Paris has seen the biggest demonstrations and most violent police actions for some time.

Protest in France is frequently dramatic and routinely involves symbolic challenges to authority, blockages, burning signal flares and percussive devices.

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