France experienced its first night of calm since the weekend on Monday evening after the imposition of curfews in several cities and towns. The Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, said he is ‘absolutely determined to restore order’ in the wake of the weekend’s urban warfare that stunned the Republic.

Lecornu delivered his promise after a crisis meeting in which a series of measures were discussed. While the Premier held back from declaring a state of emergency – for the time being – Lecornu said the curfews in cities such as Paris, Nice, Lyon and Lille were necessary.

Rioters are rarely jailed and so far the sentences given to those arrested on Saturday have been derisory

Rioters are rarely jailed and so far the sentences given to those arrested on Saturday have been derisory

‘The French get the impression that it’s chaos everywhere,’ said Lecornu. ‘Fortunately, that’s not the case. The disorder is highly concentrated in urban centres.’

The cities that experienced the most violence have two things in common: large numbers of far-left activists and a significant immigrant population. There has been barely any rioting in the provinces where last Saturday high school protestors joined forces with Yellow Vests in numerous........

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