French PM vows 'massive' police deployment for new demonstrations

Addressing an unruly parliament, the French Prime Minister said that his main aim was to restore order to the country following the weekend's rioting. Sébastien Lecornu said that the curfews imposed in some cities had been effective and would continue, depending on discussions with local prefects and mayors. Lecornu criticised the policing over the weekend as too static. Going forward, he said that police numbers will be upped at future protests, including a demonstration planned for Saturday by members of the Yellow Vest movement. The security deployment next Saturday will be massive. I myself will have the opportunity to be briefed on it next Thursday. While the French Interior Minister, Laurent Nunes, said that some military personnel will also be deployed as reinforcements. We will deploy sentinel forces to replace the security forces, mainly in static positions. This will free up members of the police, so they will be able to maintain order. Nunes also admitted that both the large number of protesters and the amount of widespread, dispersed groups of looters had not been anticipated by the government. Regarding the response to the looting, Prime Minister Lecornu suggested that more arrests would be made in the coming days. The immediate judicial response included the arrests over the weekend, but there will also be a long-term judicial response regarding the looting. We have released an unprecedented amount of investigative and judicial capacities, and because we have a huge number of videos and images, we will be able to conduct more arrests in the coming days." Meanwhile, the French Prime Minister has a packed calendar as he deals with the crisis, meetings planned with union leaders and the heads of French political parties later this week. He will also travel to Limoges, to the scene of the burnt town hall, which has become emblematic of the weekend's rioting.