Pauline Bock is a New Statesman contributing writer based in Brussels. She writes about Brexit, the EU, France and the Macron presidency.
After launching a debate to quell months of protest, France’s millionaire president invited other millionaires to a summit at Versailles.
In Brussels, impatience with the UK’s farcical indecision is rising by the day.
The French president’s refusal to offer further concessions is creating the conditions for more violent episodes.
Having played 2017 on easy mode, the French president was unprepared for what came next.
Britons see borders where their European neighbours see lines on the map.
The French president falsely presented planned measures as social breakthroughs and maintained an unjust tax system.
On just one blocked roundabout, a student, an artisan, a small business owner, a pensioner, a freelance worker and an employee were wearing the same yellow vest.
The frustration of the France of the roundabouts has spilled over into protest and violence.
Theresa May just accused 3 million people of the worst behaviour known to the British.
“They [the French] were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
