Today, sheep farmer Jose Bove received a prison sentence for destroying the Millau site of a new McDonald’s restaurant, in what he argues was a last ditch protest against US tariffs on French products.

Bove was sentence to three months in prison while his eight accomplices were given suspended jail terms and fines. Another man was acquitted.

The message from Bove to the French government was clear: halt globalisation and resist US economic domination. Support for his campaign has grown tremendously, with the public viewing him as something of a folk hero, and he has said he will appeal against the court’s decision.