“There is, however, something about Macron which provokes a deep and unreasoning hatred among many French people.”
Not just among the French.

I live in SW France, am no expert on current affairs but observe whats going on. The author is wrong in suggesting the riots are led by ‘people too young to vote’ – people of all classes and age are in the movement. The author otherwise right – the people are unreasonably refusing a modest reform which is necessary. As he says – Macron has deep seated disrespect from the people. The logic doesn’t add up – cash is available for warfare and covid bailouts but not for retirement funds. The rich are still getting richer.
My sense is that the French know what is wrong but cannot overtly campaign for named problems. Retirement is an acceptable pretext even though it should not be justified.
The people know that Macron is a WEF puppet and too weak to resist the US military agenda (which nation IS strong enough ??) and is leading them into a program of de-nationalisation and techno-totalitariansim. The traditionalists resist change and have found a focus for their hatred and distrust. Chaos and regime change will follow.

Seen from France, this is depressing. The article is protraying a reasonnably neutral and accurate description of the situation.

Right across Europe the middle class is living beyond its means – and has been for thirty years. Including in the UK. How many of us actually put in more than we take out? Not many – and that’s before we even consider the unearned property wealth, which is basically just another government handout.

Still, at least we still have our own currency and can therefore fix our problems. The French, Italians and Spanish don’t and can’t.

Perhaps had Macron been a more democratic leader, he could push through important reforms like pension reform with less public opposition, but France isn’t democratic. It’s a vassal of the EU, the WEF and the UN, passing laws as dictated to it by international organizations on “climate change”, covid and migrants in particular. The French people have learned that voting never brings about change. Their votes don’t matter, so rioting is their only option to bring about change. That model will soon be repeated in formerly democratic states around the world.

The Gilets Jaunes protest was against an authoritarian, anti-scientific, woke nonsense that forces common people to pay taxes to support the rich (global warming mountebanks). Bravo!
The pension protest is simply lazy, irrational whining.
That Macron could get both wrong says a lot.

If the French Government needs to do a ‘Thatcher’ then they should have started pension reform in the 1980s. I know that that is not possible now but the current situation reminds me of the financial perils of Greece – too much benefit and not enough contribution.
French pension reform seems necessary… but to bring it in by fiat seems unnecessarily provocative.

I understand why I have not read The Independent for ages. Where does this correspondent crawl out from?
First of all it is not la France tout courte, mais La France tout court. Confusion des genres! And as we say locally, si ma tante en avait, elle serait mon oncle! Thus the comparison between Thatcher and Micronus totally misses the point. In fact it is totally “invertie”. She most likely had them…as to her alter ego, I can’t even say that the jury is still out.
Où la libido va-t-elle se nicher?

There is another very important difference between France and Britain that commentators appear completely blind to.
Whereas in nu britn, and rule by the lower middle classes, the industrial and manual working class is viewed as something that everyone must ” rise out of” and ensure that Kayleigh and Kevin become computer programmers of line managers: their ” soshul ‘ hambishun” says that death my hanging, drawing and quartering, would be preferable than becoming working class again, especially if the neighbours ” feound eout”.

In France, society respects, and reveres those who work , and more importantly wish to work at SNCF, Renault, Michelin, and Peugeot, and their rights and status, and wants to ensure that they continue to do so and not dream of their offspring entering the masonic lodge and golf club as ” slisters and acceountants”.

Thus France gives French society superb roads and railways, the vast majority of cars on the road are French, and those workers huge pension funds invest in French government bonds, so help the funding of long term infrastructure cost burdens.

Of course this has nothing to do with EU membership. Britain could adopt a raft of inspiration from both EU and non EU countries, but never does… Norways’ oil wealth fund, Switzerlands low tax attraction governed by Cantons individual tax deals with UHNW individuals, Germany’s paying citizens to recycle, and its ” 30 days only” terms of supplier credit,Germany’s high motorway speed limits, Italy and France’s wine prices, and a plethora of others….

King Charles’ visit wasn’t cancelled because of security reasons; that’s just the official explanation. The real reason the visit was cancelled is to avoid the poor optics of Macron dining at Versailles with Charles, like he was Louis XVI (Macron, not Charles).

“Macron needs to be more like Thatcher”

Dressing up Jove in a blue power-dress, complete with pearls and twin-set, is not necessarily going to make the French grow up.

I don’t think the pension reform on its own is too objectionable. The means of imposing it are extremely dubious though. And to be honest, whether the reform is good or bad, I can’t help but smile seeing the arrogant bankster version of Napoleon that is Macron get made to squirm.

More power to the protesters. The last thing France needs is a Thatcher “reforming” the country “for its own good.”

All you need show is a graph of average age to defend the morality of the change. That said, I wouldn’t bother, there is another solution. Only pay retirement for 20years. You can take it anytime after 62.