France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is holding a crisis cabinet meeting today, 19 October 2026, to assess a weekend of widespread violence and looting. The events have been described as some of the worst public disorder in modern French history.
On Saturday, over half a million people demonstrated against rising living costs and dwindling access to public services. The protests escalated after groups of masked activists appeared, leading to an estimated 1,500 shops and businesses being looted and destroyed. The interior ministry reported that about 1,000 police officers were injured, with seven seriously.
President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on Sunday, calling for national unity and vowing to punish perpetrators. His speech has been criticised for lacking concrete detail. The Secretary General of the CGT union, Sophie Binet, accused Macron of failing to address concerns regarding students, the cost-of-living crisis, or public service quality.
The president of France's lower house of parliament, Yaël Braun-Pivet, has stated her intention to open an inquiry into the weekend's events. New mass demonstrations have been announced for 5 November by a cross-section of trade unions and the "yellow jacket" movement.