In a comment piece, journalist Coco Khan reflects on a row in France over Master Poulet, a halal rotisserie chicken chain, after it opened its first UK branch. The controversy began when Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine near Paris, tried to block a Master Poulet branch near the town hall, initially using concrete blocks before switching to large plant pots after a court ordered their removal. Khan uses the episode to explore how chicken shops, long associated with immigrant communities and working-class British culture, have become an unlikely lens on class, identity and politics within the left.

Bouamrane says his objection is about quality of life, citing late deliveries and cooking smells, but critics link the move to wider gentrification in Saint-Ouen, driven partly by Paris Olympics-related regeneration and rising property prices. They note Master Poulet sells a chicken drumstick and potatoes for €4 (£3.40), cheaper than McDonald's, which has faced no similar action, prompting accusations of double standards. Politicians from the further-left La France Insoumise party, including MP Éric Coquerel, have visited the shop in solidarity and questioned whether Islamophobia and classism underpin the mayor's stance.