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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ashifa Kassam in Lyon

‘Our backs are against the wall’: French grassroots mobilise against far right

A woman throws a ball at cans covered in pictures of far-right politicians including Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella
A woman throws a ball at cans covered in pictures of leading far-right figures during a rally in Montpellier last week. Photograph: Sylvain Thomas/AFP/Getty Images

The truck rumbled through the streets of Montpellier, eliciting insults and bursts of applause as it made its way through the French city. As it rolled past onlookers, the giant screens on its sides scrolled through various pieces of legislation that the far-right National Rally (RN) had voted against, from measures to combat domestic and sexual violence to providing meals and school supplies for children in need.

It was one of dozens of grassroots efforts that have sprung up in recent weeks as France hurtles towards the second round of snap parliamentary elections that could see Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant party form a government in a historic first.

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