Mayor wins right to a Christmas crib

A far-right mayor in southern France has successfully defended a Christmas crib in his city hall against a legal complaint by secularists, by arguing that it represented a French tradition rather than a religious display, writes Tom Heneghan.

Béziers Mayor Robert Ménard, who is close to the anti-immigrant National Front, installed the crib last December against the advice of the prefect, the local representative of the French state. Secularists filed a legal complaint, arguing the crib violated France’s laïcité policy, but a judge rejected it.

Mr Ménard also let the local Jewish community set up a large Hanukkah menorah in the city hall. A court in nearby Montpellier last week rejected the secularists’ appeal of that initial ruling, saying that the crib was a “cultural activity”.