French government under fire after May Day chaos

France's interior minister promised today to boost security at protests after hooded youths ran amok at May Day demonstrations in Paris, torching cars and a McDonald's restaurant.

Police said 109 people were in custody after the violence, which has sparked criticism in the press that the government was unprepared for 1,200 black-clad troublemakers joining the traditional May 1 protests for workers' rights.

"The authority of the state, reduced to statements of 'strong condemnation', has been tarnished once again," read a column in the right-leaning Figaro newspaper.

Regional daily L'Est Republicain deplored "the sight of these 1,200 thugs dressed in black on the Austerlitz bridge", while the L'Alsace newspaper declared: "Governing means planning ahead."
"We cannot keep up, even with 21 police units mobilised against movements which all of a sudden appear on a scale we've never seen before."