Watching Limoges town hall burn could be a metaphor for our times. Amid riots across Europe over housing, education and the cost of living, it was local government that bore the wrath – and the consequences – of years of rising costs and failing public services.
Should the unrest spread across the Channel, it will be councils here that pick up the pieces, sweeping debris from the streets and rebuilding community cohesion. It is not the only fire the sector is fighting. The housing, cost of living and finance crises burn on.
