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Uber protests in Paris: Violent incidents as taxi-drivers take on car-booking firm Uber protests in Paris: Government outlaws online service which connects passengers with unlicensed drivers after taxi demonstrations
(about 5 hours later)
Angry Parisian taxi-drivers overturned cars and blocked access to airports and railway stations today in a protest against competition from unlicenced Uber cars. Even for a city used to disruption by strikes, taxi protests in Paris yesterday set new standards of chaos, random violence plus political and moral confusion.
Riot police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse taxi-drivers who briefly blocked the Paris ring road with burning tyres. Suspected Uber cars were pelted with missiles or overturned. One taxi-driver was taken to hospital after being run-over. After cabbies overturned cars and blocked the Paris ring road with burning tyres, the government announced it was giving protesters part of what they wanted. An Uber service, which connects would-be passengers with unlicensed, private drivers, is to be banned by edict – even though it already illegal in France.
Two days after protests by ferry workers blocked the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel, the protest brought misery to travellers trying to reach both Paris airports and the Gare du Nord, the railway terminus for London and northern Europe. The US singer Courtney Love was caught up in violent scenes as taxi drivers blockaded the airport and allegedly attacked suspected Uber drivers. Love, 50, tweeted: “They’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They’re beating the cars with metal bats. This is France? I’m safer in Baghdad.”
Some passengers, including families with small children, abandoned cars and walked along motorway hard shoulders to try to reach Charles de Gaulle airport in time for their flights. Then in another message, she said: “François Hollande where are the fucking police??? Is it legal for your people to attack visitors? Get your ass to the airport.”
Courtney Love also appeared to have been caught up in the chaos. The singer published a series of furious tweets claiming her car had been ambushed and her driver "held hostage". Earlier, riot police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse taxi drivers who blocked the Paris ring road with burning tyres. Suspected Uber cars and private-hire limousines  were pelted with missiles or overturned. One driver was taken to hospital after being run over. Two taxi drivers were arrested.
The anti-Uber protests in all French cities today follow judgements in French courts which have banned the practise of matching unlicenced drivers with would-be passengers by phone app. Some passengers, including families with small children, abandoned cars and walked along the A1 motorway hard shoulders to try to reach Charles de Gaulle airport in time for their flights.  
The taxi drivers – who pay up to 240,000 euros for a Paris private hire licence – say that drivers operating through Uber are ignoring the judgements and that police are not doing enough to stop them. Two days after protests by ferry workers had blocked the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel, the taxi protests brought disastrous new negative publicity to the world’s favourite tourist destination. Although politicians of left and right condemned the violence – there were also protests in other cities across France, including Marseille – most supported the taxi drivers’ cause.
French CRS riot police arrive to intervene as demonstrators block Porte Maillot in Paris (Getty) The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, called for calm. “We are in a state of law,”  he said. “A state of law is not a state of violence.”
There were reports of gangs of taxi-drivers “hunting down” suspected Uber drivers at Charles de Gaulle and Roissy airports. Limousines alleged to be operating for Uber were overturned at Charles de Gaulle and at Porte Maillot on the western edge of Paris. He went on to announce a ban on UberPop, one of the services operated by the American company, Uber, which provides cheap rides with unlicensed, untrained drivers using their own cars.  French courts have already declared several times that this service is illegal, although Uber has challenged this in the courts.
Private hire cars, which are legal under certain conditions, were also reported to have been attacked. So were licensed taxis which ignored the nationwide protests. French CRS riot police arrive to intervene as demonstrators block Porte Maillot in Paris, as hundreds of taxi drivers converged on airports and other areas around the capital to demonstrate against UberPOP, a popular taxi app that is facing fierce opposition from traditional cabs. Access to three terminals at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and in a number of areas of Paris, especially Porte Maillot, were blocked The government has said that nearly 500 legal cases have been filed across the country involving complaints about UberPop, the cheapest of Uber’s services.
One taxi-driver, Malia, 50, said: “Taxi-drivers have a big mouth but we are not usually violent. We have to feed our families and we have big loans (for taxi licenses) to pay off. We feel trapped.” The taxi drivers – who can pay up to €240,000 (£170,000) for a Paris private hire licence – say that Uber drivers are ignoring court judgments and that the police are not doing enough to stop them operating. They want the government to jam the phone app – which is technically impossible. 
Politicians of both Left and Right defended the protests – though not the violence. French social media, on the other hand,  was overwhelmed by angry comments from disgruntled taxi users. One typical comment by “Victor” said; “I would like to feel sorry for the taxi drivers but I am sick of rude drivers, always on strike and much more expensive than in other cities.” One taxi driver, Malia, 50, said: “Taxi drivers have big mouths but we are not usually violent. We have to feed our families and we have big loans [for licences] to pay off. We feel trapped.”
Uber, which claims 400,000 customers a month in France, said it is merely providing an alternative to the “poor” services offered by traditional taxis.
“There are people who are willing to do anything to stop any competition,” said Thomas Meister, an Uber spokesman. “We are only the symptom of a badly organised market.”
One of the few beneficiaries of the chaos was Uber. Its site announced “very heavy demand” all day.