This is a catastrophe for France: Minister’s verdict on riot chaos
AS the big clean-up began yesterday, France’s finance minister warned that the violent protests sweeping the country are a ‘catastrophe’ for the nation’s economy.
Yellow Vest demonstrators torched cars, vandalised and looted shops and restaurants, and hurled stones in a fourth weekend of protests in Paris.
Riot police fought back with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges, leaving 71 people injured in the French capital.
As workers cleared the streets of broken glass and towed away burnt-out cars yesterday, Bruno Le Maire warned that the Yellow Vest protests will have ‘a severe impact’ on the economy.
‘It’s a catastrophe for commerce, it’s a catastrophe for our economy,’ the finance minister said. ‘We must expect a new slowdown of economic growth at year-end due to the protests.’
The protesters, who take their name from the fluorescent safety vests that French drivers are legally obliged to carry, have wreaked havoc on retailers and the tourism industry.
Department stores, museums and monuments including the Eiffel Tower had to close. The interior ministry said 136,000 people took part in Saturday’s anti-government protests, and more than 1,700 were arrested, with Paris seeing more damage than last week. Protests also took place in Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux.
Emmanuel Macron is set make a grovelling speech today and announce further tax concessions in a bid to calm the anger that has gripped the country.
The 40- year- old French president, elected in May last year, has faced mounting criticism for remaining holed up in his presidential palace, protected by armoured cars. He has also been criticised for not speaking in public for almost two weeks.
On November 27, Mr Macron said he would not be pushed into changing policy by ‘thugs’. But in a humiliating U-turn last week, he scrapped planned fuel increases and froze energy prices.
The protesters are demanding a wide range of changes including lower taxes, higher minimum wages, better pension benefits, and Mr Macron’s resignation.