If Emmanuel Macron thought his problems with farmers had started to ebb away, then he got a sharp reminder this morning that there is still plenty of anger out there.
The Salon de l’Agriculture, staged in Paris, is the biggest agricultural show in Europe.
It’s absolutely enormous – bringing together every single element of the agricultural world that you could imagine.
There are sheep, cows, yoghurts, cheesemakers, tractors and, today, hundreds of furious demonstrators spoiling for a punch-up.
The focus of their ire was, of course, the president, who was in a different part of the building.
Chaos erupted as demonstrators clashed with police. Pic: Reuters
He is here to open the show but also – in theory – to show his respect for the farmers.
It hasn’t worked out too well, so far.
Farmers are protesting over pay, rising costs and French regulations with the aim to put enough pressure on the government that they provide more help to the industry.
Pic: Reuters
Last month about 800 tractors surrounded Paris, where the workers designated eight “choke points” to upset the flow of traffic.
President Macron had proposed there should be a debate between himself and the main farming unions, an attempt to puncture some of the anger that somehow ended up making things worse.
Farmers leaders said it was a provocative action and that Mr Macron needed to instead make good on the promises he had already made.
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Animals looked on at the disruption. Pic: Reuters
His new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, was sent to the west of France to shake hands with agricultural workers and market traders but, just as he was smiling and being amiable, farmers in other towns were protesting, spraying slurry at government buildings and building barricades.
Now, inside the giant Paris exhibition centre where the Salon is being held, there are ugly scenes of fighting and destruction.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
A stand promoting the European Union has been smashed up while police and demonstrators have traded blows.
“We are not going to die without saying what we think,” one farmer said.
The tractors may have left the motorways, but the protests aren’t over. And Mr Macron’s problem with his farmers isn’t going away.
