Yellow vests - fuel protest day of action in France

[don'tbesilly]

JPJPJP said:

I bet those bankers in London are salivating at the prospect of moving to Paris due to Brexit

Go back to Apr/May 2016 they were all going to Frankfurt and should now be well entrenched, looks like Frankfurt is going to be flooded with 1000s and 1000s of more bankers changing from Paris as their chosen location and you have to wonder how it (Frankfurt) will cope.

Macron will be furious that Merkel will get one over him, and Merkel will get 1000s who will contribute to Germany's coffers as opposed to the 1000's that she invited in to drain Germany's coffers.

[johnxjsc1985]

toppstuff said:

The fuel taxes were passed by politicians in Paris who are not affected by them. The rural people are pissed off with Parisian politicians looking down on them and not serving their needs.

All seems very familiar doesn't it just change Paris for London.

[smifffymoto]

This weekend is being called ‘the 4th act’ by the gilet jaune.Mrs S keeps up to date via social media and by all accounts,this weekend is going to be similar or bigger than last.

[The Dangerous Elk]

johnxjsc1985 said:

All seems very familiar doesn't it just change Paris for London.

No, very different due to distance and thus much more exaggerated.

[PositronicRay]

Looks like they've won, sort of.

Fuel tax suspended.

[FNG]

The Dangerous Elk said:

johnxjsc1985 said:

All seems very familiar doesn't it just change Paris for London.

No, very different due to distance and thus much more exaggerated.

Only a little different due to the smaller differences involved. And then swap the distances traveled in France for the traffic density, congestion and poor public transport in the UK (outside London) and it’s not so different at all.

But to the wider point, it’s all too familiar: an elite in the capital city passing city-centric laws and expecting the rest of the population to suck it up.

[Puggit]

Yellow vests say the moratorium on tax increases (3 month delay!) isn't enough.

Not really a surprise.

[oyster]

Interesting to see the support on here for the protests, especially given they are being organised and mobilised by the trade unions in France.


I can see why a car website might support protests against higher fuel taxes, but that's just a tiny part of the problems in France at the moment. In the main people are protesting about Macron CHANGING France into a more capitalist state.

Yet I keep seeing comments about the protests wanting change - they don't want France to change, that's the whole point.

[Rovinghawk]

toppstuff said:

It’s Paris vs the rest of France.

"France is blessed by god but cursed by Paris"

[anonymous-user]

oyster said:

Interesting to see the support on here for the protests, especially given they are being organised and mobilised by the trade unions in France.


I can see why a car website might support protests against higher fuel taxes, but that's just a tiny part of the problems in France at the moment. In the main people are protesting about Macron CHANGING France into a more capitalist state.

Yet I keep seeing comments about the protests wanting change - they don't want France to change, that's the whole point.

It’s gone a lot further than that.

It’s just another example of ‘the people’ reaching their limit of tolerance with their so called ‘leaders’.

You know, populism, that awful prospect of politicians doing what the people want, not what the politicians want.

Macron came in with fine promises of change for the better. So far he’s achieved nothing, either in France or within the EU. This isn’t a surprise and neither should the reaction be.

[Deerfoot]

PositronicRay said:

Looks like they've won, sort of.

Fuel tax suspended.

Indeed, they've pretty much guaranteed more riots next time the government try to introduce an unpopular tax rise...

[smifffymoto]

He can’t change things for the because the French population don’t like change,change to anything.It must stay the same otherwise they have a breakdown.
You suggest dessert before the cheese course and watch the sparks fly.....

[anonymous-user]

The legacy of the guillotine?

[Rude-boy]

Deerfoot said:

PositronicRay said:

Looks like they've won, sort of.

Fuel tax suspended.

Indeed, they've pretty much guaranteed more riots next time the government try to introduce an unpopular tax rise...

it's not a victory of any sort for either side.

Government have lost face and have had to 'delay' their increases, popular movement that was gaining strength has been neutered for the time being for all but the most zealous and those of us who have seen it all before. I say those who have seen it all before because all that will happen i the next 3 months (other than a load of hot air and 'think of les enfants' ) will be a tightening down on the ability to hold a protest such as this and also the serious overtime that will be put into finding the main agitators so that they can be bought of/dealt with/silenced in a legal and effective manner.

[magooagain]

garagewidow said:

Why are students protesting seeing as I expect most of them don't yet run a car and/or aren't working?

Surely macrons' measures of higher fuel taxes play right into the hands of the eco/green student movement or are they just less bothered about GW than ours are.

Or I suspect it's anarchy at any opportunity.

Social media has been showing a video of a student being badly beaten by police along with a photo of his facial injurys. The students are protesting because of this.


Today we are receiving messages from French friends on social media etc calling for a full out protest next Monday and blockades everywhere.
It's not over yet it seems.

Edited by magooagain on Tuesday 4th December 17:36

[Thom]

toppstuff said:

It’s really about metropolitan people vs rural people. It’s Paris vs the rest of France.

You may be surprised to hear there is an awful lot of genuinely urban-minded people either in Paris or in other main cities who also feel a strong resentment towards this government.

It's about everyone who has to actually work for a living against a government supported by private interests which agenda is to implement laws designed to pillage the State and the shrinking working force to unprecedented levels (*)

Even retired people of a certain age who went there to demonstrate in peace started to throw whatever they could find back at the police which had started to charge blindly against everybody.

(*) It all started back in 1973, with the "loi sur la Banque de France", which basically disabled the possibility for the State to borrow money from the national bank at a 0% rate. From there on the State could only borrow money from private banks obviously at positive rates, and one can easily understand how things have all been goind downwards ever since. The final nail in the coffin was the Maastricht treaty which enabled the creation of the single currency, removing the possibility for the country to have some financial control through its money.

Edited by Thom on Tuesday 4th December 13:41

[toppstuff]

Thom said:

toppstuff said:

It’s really about metropolitan people vs rural people. It’s Paris vs the rest of France.

You may be surprised to hear there is an awful lot of genuinely urban-minded people either in Paris or in other main cities who also feel a strong resentment towards this government.

Edited by Thom on Tuesday 4th December 13:41

Not really surprised. French people in positions of power have the ability to condescend unmatched in my limited experience !

[WyrleyD]

magooagain said:

garagewidow said:

Why are students protesting seeing as I expect most of them don't yet run a car and/or aren't working?

Surely macrons' measures of higher fuel taxes play right into the hands of the eco/green student movement or are they just less bothered about GW than ours are.

Or I suspect it's anarchy at any opportunity.

Social media has been showing a video of a student being badly beaten by police along with a photo of his facial injurys. The students are protesting bra amuse of this.


Today we are receiving messages from French friends on social media etc calling for a full out protest next Monday and blockades everywhere.
It's not over yet it seems.

Same around here too, reaction is that a reduction in the future fuel cost is not enough and they want the current tax reduced to where it was 6 months ago as the cost of oil has gone down but the fuel price has gone up. Also, as has been said it's not just about the cost of fuel now but a whole host of other things are being demanded and, no, it's not over by any means.

Hope nothing major is going down tomorrow as I'm embarking on a 750km trip early in the morning!!

[Thom]

toppstuff said:

Not really surprised. French people in positions of power have the ability to condescend unmatched in my limited experience !

In my not-so-limited experience it is about as bad in countries like the UK, the USA, Germany, China, the Netherlands or any other country I went to, but then it probably depends on one's sensitivity and/or cultural background.

Edited by Thom on Tuesday 4th December 15:04

[Puggit]

Road haulage unions have announced they will go on strike from Sunday night.

This is still ratcheting up...