France Faces Autumn of Discontent, Claims Gérard Depardieu

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France is facing an autumn of discontent and the economic crisis in the country will be "even worse" next year, Gérard Depardieu has claimed, in the actor's latest broadside against the Socialist government whose tax hikes he famously fled.

The 64-year old Gallic screen icon made his incendiary remarks while on his first film shoot in France since he took up Russian citizenship and residence in Belgium to avoid President François Hollande's planned 75 per cent super tax on millionaire earners.

Despite record unemployment levels and a deeply sluggish economy, Mr Hollande's government insists that there are tentative signs of recovery and that the jobless rate will start receding by the end of the year.

Mr Depardieu claimed this was pie in the sky. "I think things will really heat up this autumn and I think that in 2014, things will be much worse in France, despite what some people are saying," he predicted in an interview with AFP. Read on and comment » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, August 05, 2013