Could it happen here? I suppose that’s the underlying thought many of us have had as we watch France burn. And the immediate response is, why wouldn’t it? I am old enough to remember in the early 2000s when people used to say France was a model of integration. Then in 2005 the suburbs went up in flames, followed by parts of the centre of Paris and other major cities. The Citroën flambé became a national dish and suddenly talk of ‘the French model of integration’ disappeared. That same year, eight home-grown terrorists of foreign origin attempted to blow up the London transport network, four succeeded and a little bit of that blasé British attitude that we know better than the French disappeared too. In 2011 our own cities started burning, but we learned nothing from that.
French mother runs home to give her kids new school clothes ready for tomorrow’s class assembly. This is what the riots are really about. Mums and their kids. Viva la Revolution. https://t.co/dwtbZkjmZm
— Nick Buckley MBE (@NickBuckleyMBE) October 19, 2026
