The Bloquons Toute (block everything) movement took to the streets of Paris on the 10th of September. Cutting across traditional political lines, socialists, trade unionists, and right-wing voters united in opposition against austerity measures and anti-establishment sentiment.
Weaving through a cordon of Gendarmes in riot gear, the square de République came into view. Clouds of wispy flare smoke floated and dispersed above gathered protesters, chanting and drumming echoed across the square. The atmosphere was relaxed and jovial. Chatter and smiles permeated the chanting as many stopped for a smoke and a nap. Vendors who had set up shop earlier that morning sold kebabs and beer, one informing me gleefully that she hoped to make a lot of money, “as there are many hungry people finding it difficult to leave due to the police”.
It was a fragile peace however, quickly broken by the appearance of a reporter from Frontiéres, a far-right identitarian news outlet. He was chased out by flying water bottles and beer cans, repelled by a large crowd chanting as one “the world hates fascists”. He made it to the safety of the police blockade and calm soon returned.
In the middle of the square towering 15 metres above the crowds is the statue of Marianne. A personification of the French Republic, a figure of freedom against monarchy, she rests her arm on a tablet engraved with droits de l’homme (human rights). Allegorical figures at the hem of her dress represent liberté, égalité, and fraternité, while a lion at her feet symbolizes universal suffrage. Once a silent witness to revolutionary upheaval, she now watched as protestors scaled her plinth and plastered the square with demands for human rights and equality. Marble cherubs below her bore tears of blood cast starkly against their white faces, alluding to Israel’s massacre of the children of Gaza and between them, the inscription “Glory to the French Republic and the city of Paris”, was sprayed over by a simple message: ‘Tax the Rich’.
The slogan reflects a broader frustration with rising inequality and austerity, anger that has shaped the political landscape since Macron’s snap election in 2024. The left and centre parties made a concerted effort to block Marine Le Pen’s far right Rassemblement National (RN) from taking power. Since then, the French Parliament has been stuck in a deadlock with the left wing Front Populaire, Macron’s centrist Ensemble and RN each with around a third of the seats in the National Assembly and no majority.
Predictably, all three of Macron’s latest picks for Prime Minister have failed to garner support in parliament, wanted by neither the left nor right, each lasting an average of 6 months in office. On the 8th of September Prime Minister Bayrou was ousted by a vote of no confidence on his 2026 budget proposal which included over €43 billion in cuts, the elimination of two national holidays, pension freezes and reductions in public services.
Government spending has been very high in France in recent years, servicing a pandemic followed by an energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More recently, to come in line with President Trump’s demands on NATO they are bringing defence spending up from 2% to 3.5% of GDP. To fund this spending, France has borrowed heavily, with debt surging from 98% of GDP to 114% in 2020 where it has stayed.
Whilst spending restraint is required in France, living standards for people in lower income groups are falling in real terms across the country. The zeitgeist is a desire for radical change. On the 9th of September another Macron loyalist Sébastian Lecornu was appointed to replace Bayrou. Within a month he resigned after facing fierce criticism over his cabinet appointments. Lecornu has since been reinstated as Prime Minister with Macron’s hopes pinned firmly on his shoulders. If he is to keep his job, he will need to pacify the French public, build consensus across the fragmented National Assembly and deliver on cuts to spending. To achieve this, he will need a radically different approach to his predecessors. Few think he will succeed.
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