May Day: Parisians march to the beat of their own drum

The National Front May Day ceremony in honour of Joan of Arc has a rather beautiful symmetry. Entirely enveloped by a praetorian guard of cameras and sound booms, Jean-Marie Le Pen proceeds up the Rue de Rivoli followed by a chanting line of supporters waving patriotic flags. Then, in the square beside the golden statue of Joan of Arc, after an intro of rousing filmic music, the 88 year old former Front leader delivers a peroration that carries right on through the mic cutting out 15 minutes in (to cries of sabotage) to when the sound picks up again 15 minutes from the end.

Camera people surround Jean Marie Le Pen in the Rue de Rivoli

The main FN rally addressed by Marine Le Pen is going on at the Parc des Expositions on the edge of Paris. Here are old comrades, like pro-death penalty Metro worker Laurent who thinks Marine is a soft touch, and at times they seem outnumbered by rapt journalists.

The start of the main May Day rally at Place de la République is, on the other hand, a joyous, raucous Leftist festival that would delight Jeremy Corbyn — banners from every international cause going, from Turkish communists to Western Sahara. The unions are split over the second round of the election — while the CFDT have rallied behind Emmanuel Macron, the CGT condemns Le Pen while leaving the possibility of abstaining or a “vote blanc”.

View of May Day marchers from corner of Place de la République & Boulevard du Temple

During the march, I hear a spectrum of opinions, plenty of them “neither Macron nor Le Pen”. A genial retired journalist and trade unionist thinks the choice is simple — if you don’t vote for a candidate, it’s a lost vote. Others say that it’s a false choice, and it’s better to confound the system; that Macron’s employment law was the key evil of the current government, and he will pass ten times worse as President; that he will govern by dictat and is as much of a war hawk as anyone.

While there are anti-FN placards — a pic of Marine Le Pen in her father’s specs; “Veni Vidi Vichy” — those with a double message against Macron stand out. “We’re voting against her, not for you, mate”; “Barrage against the National Front — on the move *in front of* Macron; bizarre to British eyes, “Against fascism and Against start-ups”.

A sign on the May Day march

The first half of the march, past a roadside canopy containing a waving Jean-Luc Mélenchon, goes peacefully. Only turning into the final stretch do we hear the crashes of firecrackers and Molotov cocktails. One reported target was a Velib’ electric car — carefully chosen, a photojournalist later suggests, because of founder Vincent Bolloré’s association with exploitative practices in Africa. A few yards further on, I have my first brush with tear gas, a metallic taste and burning eyes. With no scarf on me, I tie my cashmere V-neck round my chin to create the Sloaniest bandana ever.

The column presses on. The riot police, resembling Roman soldiers up close with their neck guards, mass shoulder to shoulder. A chant goes round, “Everybody hates the police” — alternating with “Everyone hates the National Front”. My companion, a French journalism student in London, confides she is mortified. “I can’t stand it, I don’t get it. How can everyone be chanting that when a week ago a policeman got killed?”

Graffiti in the Boulevard Diderot

At the end of the march, I descend into the Metro at Nation past a Macron poster on which is scrawled, “Knife Under The Throat” (his or ours?) A fresh-faced Macron supporter boards the train carrying placards, and puts his headphones in. I get talking to a Congolese émigré. Marine Le Pen won’t win, he says, but she’s in a good position to make the FN a force in Parliament and maybe attain power in 10 years.

“Everywhere in the world, they roll out the red carpet for the Far Right. The media has been treating the FN like a normal party since 2013. Now they protest, it’s too late”. After an extraordinary campaign, the gruelling battle to address France’s social ruptures is yet to come.

• This is a longer version of the Letter from Paris, ‘How can they chant about hating police just after an officer got killed?’ in the London Evening Standard on 2 May 2017
• Photographs by me