First, some background. A company called Cochonou makes various dry sausage products and has been a sponsor of the Tour de France for a long time. Traditionally, it hands out free sausages along the route of the race. However, due to Ramadan, a police source is said to have announced a ban on the company distributing pork sausages in the Muslim-colonised district of La Duchère, near Lyon.
The Front National candidate for the mayorship of Lyon, Christophe Boudot, has issued the following statement.
This, in defiance of every custom, the 2CVs [tn: cars] that have been involved in publicity work for this company for more than 15 years are to be prohibited from distributing sausages to spectators gathered along the route. A formal prohibition at the entrance to Lyon and especially the islamised district of Duchère! It’s like a dream!
I firmly denounce this infringement of our French customs and the principle of secularism and I demand that Gérard Collomb and the authorities of the Tour de France do everything to lift this prohibition from another age.
However, the company concerned, Cochonou, has also issued a statement denying that it has banned its staff from distributing sausages. Who do you believe?