France profonde

In May and June much of France was mobilised (and the rest of us immobilised) while the public sector contested the government’s plans for pension reform. At the same time, teachers went on strike in protest against staff cutbacks and another major government project, decentralisation, which will result in less money being available in some schools. At the beginning of July the unions called a tactical halt, the summer holidays being sacred. “Rendezvous in September” was the cry, as the busloads headed home, confident their parliamentary representatives would talk the reform bill into oblivion-by tabling some 7,000 amendments.

Deep in…