The Yellow Jackets Could Come to Brexit Britain
The protests in France should be a warning that high levels of distrust and lower living standards could produce unrest in the U.K. too.
Populism crosses borders too.
Photographer: -/AFP/Getty Images
What started out as a typical demonstration against fuel taxes threatens to become the largest and most violent street protests in France since the late 1960s. Some might say this could never happen in Britain. I wouldn't be so sure.
The French, of course, have a long tradition of taking their grievances to the streets. There have been a dozen or so significant episodes of civil unrest since the major round of rioting in 2005. Tens of thousands of cars are burned every year. The current wave of demonstrations began with a Facebook grouping to protest a 7.6 euro cents per liter ($0.09) tax increase on diesel fuel, to help pay for President Emmanuel Macron's environmental agenda. Opposition to the tax tapped into widening discontent over living standards and with a president who often appears arrogant and detached.