Up next in 10
James O'Brien is joined by reporter Lisa Louis, who is on the streets of Paris as 86,000 protesters clash with riot police over school conditions.
In Marseille, Nantes and Lyon, the street protests began peacefully mid-morning, with the largest demonstration expected in Paris in the afternoon.
Youngsters held aloft smoke flares and placards reading "Under our school books, anger" and "Where are the politicians? Do they even know we exist?"
Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp
#jamesobrien #reaction #france #paris #riots #protest #europe #LBC
LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.
Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/
Sign up to LBC's weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
As promised, I turn your attention next to the school protests in France
0:03
I shall resist the urge to overplay my favourite pun of all time about revolting students
0:08
and focus instead upon Lisa Louis, a freelance reporter who is in the République area of Paris
0:16
where many of these protests have taken place or indeed are due to take place again later today
0:20
But to begin, Lisa, they're up and down. They're across the entire country
0:25
Well, absolutely. Today is a day of nationwide protests and demonstrations. The students from secondary schools will be marching together with teachers and also with university students
0:40
Now, these protests started about two weeks back, you know, at a number of schools in Saint-Saint-Denis
0:46
which is the poorest department in France, a number of secondary schools
0:49
These pupils were took to the barricades because they were complaining about the conditions at their school
0:56
They are saying, you know, there's not enough money. Our buildings are really run down
1:02
There were pictures online of places where the ceiling is coming down, the water's dripping to the floor
1:09
There are rats in the building. And also there's a problem with teachers. Replacement teachers sometimes take months or even a year to find someone who replaces another teacher
1:18
who's gone on leave or who is ill. So they are saying, these pupils I've been talking to
1:23
over the past week or so have been telling me that, you know, this is not how we can get educated
1:28
in a proper way and we need to have access to proper education to become educated adults
1:33
And it snowballed. I mean, other schools followed and then undergraduates, university students joined in
1:40
and crucially, I suppose, for people who might chalk it up as, you know, young people being young people
1:45
the teachers have joined in as well. Well absolutely It snowballed from this one department the destitute area to other departments across France to other schools that were facing the same problems but also schools that weren facing these problems And then the students there took to the barricades to show solidarity with the students who don have access to all the proper resources And today as you just
2:09
mentioned, you know, at that protest, there will be teachers and there will be university students
2:14
joining the marches here in Paris, but also in other cities across France. And the big question
2:20
is obviously what's going to happen today and in the coming days
2:25
Will there be wider protests? Will other universities, other middle schools as well
2:31
maybe join the protests and really gain more traction? Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Lyon, Paris, I think
2:38
all are expected to see, in fact, some of them underway already, and attacks on street furniture and indeed the police
2:48
it's a political problem for Emmanuel Macron. I mean, is he on the hook for it
2:54
Are the protesters holding him responsible for what's going on in schools
2:59
or is it more sophisticated than that? No, I think that's really part of the problem
3:04
Emmanuel Macron has been in power for almost 10 years now. He will have to leave in April, May
3:09
when there will be general elections here in France. But right now, he's really being targeted as the main problem
3:17
And the students are saying, you know, we need money to employ additional teachers
3:23
And yet France's budget, France's finances are in dire straits. The country is now trying to put together a budget for next year, for 2027
3:33
But it has a huge public deficit and huge public debt. Public debt is at about 117 percent of GDP right now
3:41
That is huge. and the country needs to find tens of billions of euros to bring down that public deficit really
3:48
So it really difficult for the government to come up with measures concrete measures that will calm down the anger of these student protests There was a meeting last week between the education minister and several representatives of the students that are protesting
4:07
And the government, also over the weekend, they came forward saying, you know, we're going to address these issues
4:12
We will look into how to hire new teachers, how to refurbish the buildings also to make them fit for climate change
4:19
And there were several heat waves this summer here in France, and the students have been complaining about that
4:23
But will they find the money? That's really the big question here. I mean, staying in the political arena, Mélenchon, Jean-Luc Mélenchon
4:34
has certainly in the coverage here has been cited as one of the instigators of the activity
4:40
Is that fair? Well, I don't know if you can call him the instigator
4:46
Well, his party is certainly trying to piggyback the movement. They've been publishing photos and videos of themselves with the student protesters
4:55
But I've actually put that to some of the pupils that are demonstrating right now that are protesting
5:00
And they're saying, well, they are supporting us. But it's not because the party told us to protest that we took to the barricades
5:07
But they're certainly trying to, you know, benefit from this movement. Also appeal to first time voters for next year's presidential elections
5:15
Yes. So it's an organic movement that politicians are just going to be politicians and try and see it as an opportunity
5:22
And of course, there have been some fairly grim scenes. One young man had his hand blown off, I think, after picking up a smoke grenade yesterday
5:29
Policing in France, very different from policing in this country. So the clashes later could escalate
5:36
I wonder if you could just tell me what if you've got a handle on what the broader public opinion is
5:42
because it's impossible to speak about an entire population's feelings but is there a genuine or
5:49
general sense of support for the students or are their parents and grandparents generation running out of patience well you know it just so happens that here in France there are a lot of polls being done regularly And there one poll that was done one week ago about you know
6:06
especially that particular protest movement. And it turns out that two thirds of the French support the students
6:13
in general here in France. Often when there are strikes, when there are protests
6:17
a lot of people say we need to show solidarity, especially with such a you know with students who are fighting for more means for such an important
6:26
sector the education sector that everybody thinks or many people here think more money should be
6:31
invested in um that's extraordinary isn't it so even harder then against that backdrop to know how
6:37
things are going to are going to settle how this stops well absolutely you know that's the big
6:44
question is this movement going to continue will there be more more blockades will the government
6:49
be able to calm them down or to control the movement. And you mentioned the violent clashes
6:55
Obviously, there are now riot police that are being deployed to make sure that different situations are under control
7:03
But we have seen very violent clashes with dozens of students injured during these protests
7:11
And there is a risk that this could gain even more ground
7:15
and maybe also spread to other sectors. That's at least what some here are fearing
7:19
Lisa, thank you. That was a fantastically comprehensive dispatch, and I'm very grateful to you. I wonder whether we'll talk again. It seems likely, given that the, well, it's hard at the moment to envisage the scenario in which this would end. That's Lisa Louis, a freelance reporter in Paris, in the République area
7:37
Oh, I don't know why I do that. I've got to be honest with you. It's just a bit performative
7:42
I could have said Republic area, Republic, but I have to go like flipping René off
7:47
Republic, the Republic area of Paris, where the protests are due to take place later today, already underway, I think, in Lyon and elsewhere
7:55
But now the riot police get deployed and potentially things get much hairier
news