Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu lashed out at La France Insoumise during questions in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
At the same time, more than 250,000 pupils, teachers and parents marched in French cities.
‘Creating chaos, as you have done since the pupil movement began, is a scandal,’ Lecornu said, according to The Guardian.
La France Insoumise, abbreviated LFI, was founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2016. The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia describes the party as radical left-wing and left-wing populist, placing it on the far left. The French Interior Ministry places LFI in the same category. On 27 February, the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative court, rejected the party’s challenge to this classification ahead of the municipal elections in March. LFI is part of the New Popular Front, the alliance that became the largest group in the National Assembly following the 2024 election. The party is in opposition to the government.
The Interior Ministry puts the number at 256,000 nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris. Organisers say 450,000. Police used tear gas in several cities. On Tuesday alone, 488 people were arrested, while 43 police officers and gendarmes were injured, according to official figures cited by Europe 1.
More than 6,500 people have been arrested since 28 September. Reuters reports that more than 1,800 have appeared in court, 1,483 of whom are under the age of 18.
Lecornu presented his own figures. Since the unrest began, 715 police officers and gendarmes have been injured. The same applies to 215 pupils and 85 school staff, 34 of them head teachers or deputy heads.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL last Friday that more than 100 secondary schools had been severely damaged. He wants the parents to foot the bill.
A protester kicks a tear gas canister during scuffles following a demonstration against under-resourced schools in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)
The Prime Minister’s Office has already said that French intelligence sees an organised manoeuvre by LFI and the far left behind the movement. The LFI-run municipality of Saint-Denis rejects claims that the young people are being manipulated. Jean-Luc Mélenchon wrote on X on 28 September:
‘Insoumis, elected representatives and activists, put yourselves in between wherever you can.’
Lecornu rejects claims that there has been police violence. He calls them a lie that smears the police. There have been accidents, he says, and such things can happen in such a sensitive area of policing.
The police are nevertheless not blameless in every case. A 15-year-old lost his hand in Lens on Monday. The prosecutor cannot say whether the boy picked up the grenade himself or whether it was thrown towards him. The police’s own internal investigations unit, the IGPN, has around ten cases under investigation. Amnesty France believes disproportionate force has been used against the young people.
The pupils are demanding substitute teachers when regular teachers are absent, proper school buildings and changes to Parcoursup, the higher-education admissions system. Around 890 of France’s 3,700 secondary schools were fully or partially closed on Tuesday.
Lecornu also announced that schools would be allowed to set aside their timetables to hold internal discussions.
On Tuesday evening, Macron summoned Lecornu, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Education Minister Édouard Geffray to a meeting at the Élysée Palace. What they decided was not known when this article was written.
