The violent scenes that erupted in Paris during the Champions League final have laid bare the fault lines in European security cooperation. As French authorities scrambled to contain the chaos that saw thousands storm the Stade de France, the British policing model, refined over decades of managing high-risk football fixtures, has been held up as a benchmark. The riots, which led to over 200 arrests and left dozens injured, have triggered urgent questions about the preparedness of EU member states to handle mass gatherings.
For the working class families who saved for months to attend the match, the cost of this failure goes beyond shattered ticket dreams. It is a reminder that when security falls short, it is ordinary people who pay the price. The contrast with the UK's approach, which combines intelligence-led policing with community engagement, could not be starker.
As union leaders and policymakers on this side of the Channel watch developments, the message is clear: the real economy of safety cannot be outsourced or underfunded. The price of bread may have risen, but the price of safety should never be negotiable.
