{"id":93049,"date":"2024-01-24T22:11:22","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T22:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estaql.com\/we-dont-need-easy-words-they-need-to-listen-protesting-french-farmers-determined-to-make-their-voices-heard-world-news\/"},"modified":"2024-01-24T22:11:22","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T22:11:22","slug":"we-dont-need-easy-words-they-need-to-listen-protesting-french-farmers-determined-to-make-their-voices-heard-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/we-dont-need-easy-words-they-need-to-listen-protesting-french-farmers-determined-to-make-their-voices-heard-world-news\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News<\/h2>\n

‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News<\/p>\n

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We are standing in the middle of a motorway – the Eurotunnel is only a junction away, but nothing is moving.<\/p>\n

Next to me, Damien Delattre, an arable farmer from near Calais, is showing me his tractor.<\/p>\n

“It has been used for 6,000 hours, so it is middle-aged,” he says. “Just like me.”<\/p>\n

Damien, along with dozens of other farmers, has parked his tractor on the carriageway and climbed out, blocking the traffic.<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n Damien Delattre, an arable farmer from near Calais
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On the brow of the hill, about a quarter of a mile away, the traffic is stacked up – lorries waiting to get through, drivers battling to get to the Eurotunnel terminal.<\/p>\n

But here, standing on the road, everything feels remarkably calm.<\/p>\n

A brazier is lit and drinks are handed out. It’s like a thousand other picket lines from history, except this one is in the middle of a motorway.<\/p>\n

The police, positioned to the side, watch and wait. They have clearly worked with the farmers to ensure that most traffic can find a way through and that the blockades, while aggravating, do not become a more serious problem.<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n Traffic queues in Calais amid a roadblock by protesting French farmers
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more:
Protests by farmers in France spread to Brussels<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the imagery is what matters here, and the farmers’ protest is becoming a mosaic of blockades across the nation. The message is also clear – that farmers have the power to paralyse France.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of complaints that you hear, but they boil down to one theme – that they feel left behind, forgotten and disadvantaged. That their role – in feeding the nation – is taken for granted while their problems are ignored.<\/p>\n

“For years we have been silent,” says Damien. He is 51 years old and has been a farmer for half his life, but says that his job is becoming ever more difficult.<\/p>\n

“All we do is work and you know what – I lost a very good friend of mine last week. I’m sorry, but he hanged himself. It’s common now in our profession.<\/p>\n

“What do you want from the politicians who are watching these protests,” I ask.<\/p>\n

“They need to understand our problems – we don’t need any more easy words. They need to really listen.<\/p>\n

“Look – three years ago, nitrogen fertiliser costs \u20ac180 (\u00a3153) per ton. Last year, the price had gone up to \u20ac700 (\u00a3598).<\/p>\n

“How can we deal with that?”<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n French farmers block the N12 road in Brittany. Pic: Reuters
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<\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Pic: Reuters
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He got a call from friends yesterday inviting him to join the protest, and didn’t hesitate.<\/p>\n

As we speak, there are hoots of support from lorries passing by on the other carriageway.<\/p>\n

There are many people who feel sympathy for the plight of the farmers, even more so after the death of a mother<\/strong> and her daughter, who were killed when a car drove into a blockade in southwestern France.<\/p>\n

Among the farmers we spoke to, there was a determination to make the most of this moment.<\/p>\n

They take support from the impact made by farmers’ protests in Germany<\/strong>, Poland, the Netherlands and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n French farmers block the A61 highway with their tractors
\nPic: Reuters
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

There is talk of columns of tractors arriving in Paris to bring the capital to a standstill.<\/p>\n

“Would you join that?” I ask Damien. “Yes, of course. It’s easy to get to Paris.”<\/p>\n

For the moment, it goes day by day. Some protest movements, like the Gilets Jaunes, go on for years. Some burn brightly and then fade away.<\/p>\n

The farmers are resolute, but part of their problem is that their jobs really are demanding.<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n A cow figure hangs from a vehicle, as French farmers stage a protest near the European Parliament in Brussels. Pic: Reuters
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more from Sky News:
Paris honours David Bowie with his own street
Avalanche kills British mother and son skiing on Mont Blanc<\/strong><\/p>\n

Breaking away to block a motorway is not something you can do all the time without hurting your livelihood even more.<\/p>\n

However, this isn’t just about the plight of the farmers, but also about a rumbling, widespread discontent against authority.<\/p>\n

The protests are being seized upon by various groups, most notably the Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen’s right-wing political party, as another lever with which to bash Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n Marion Marechal, Marine Le Pen’s niece and executive vice president of French far-right party Reconquete, joins a demonstration in Brussels
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

They have applauded the farmers, claiming Macron is happy to see French agriculture wither away.<\/p>\n

European elections loom later this year and the RN, along with populist and anti-Establishment groups across Europe, is tipped to prosper.<\/p>\n

As the tractors drove off at the end of the day, we saw a tall figure applauding the farmers – an RN politician, waving at the tractors.<\/p>\n

And tomorrow, the farmers will protest again. Their anger is simmering. The question is whether, when and how it might boil over.<\/p>\n

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
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‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News ‘We don’t need easy words – they need to listen’: Protesting French farmers determined to make their voices heard | World News We are standing in the middle of a motorway – the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7711],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7711"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}