France's politicians woo the country's angry farmers

PARIS - France's new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal paid tribute to the country's agriculture sector this weekend, responding to the growing discontent of farm workers angry at red tape and high costs.

Another rising political star, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally was also declaring his sympathy for the farmers, who he said were sick of the strictures imposed by "Macron's Europe".

Across the country, France's farmers have been voicing their anger in recent weeks -- and they have a long list of grievances.

They are unhappy about rising costs, bans on pesticides cleared for use in other parts of the world, a sense of being crushed by the strict standards imposed on them, and what they see as unfair competition from Ukrainian imports.

The price of diesel is another sore point, an issue that helped sparked the yellow vest protests that caused Macron so many problems during his first presidential term.

Later this week, the government is due to present its latest plans on how to help the next generation of farmers -- their average age at the moment is 51.4 years.

But the plans have already been criticised by the sector as too timid.