French anger spreads after Macron forces pension age rise

Refinery strikes have escalated in France as the interior minister spoke of protesters wreaking havoc across the country and some MPs called for police protection, amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the pension age without a parliamentary vote.

The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, warned against what he called the chaos of random, spontaneous street demonstrations. Amid the protests, 310 people were arrested overnight, including 258 in Paris, he told RTL radio.

Late on Thursday night in Paris, some people started fires on side streets and caused damage to shop fronts after police used teargas and water cannon to clear hundreds of protesters who had gathered as a fire was lit in the centre of Place de la Concorde. By 11.30pm, 217 people had been arrested on suspicion of seeking to cause damage, Paris police said.

Opposition parties will call a vote of no confidence in the government, which is likely to be held on Monday. For it to pass, it would require large numbers of MPs from the rightwing party Les Républicains to back it. The party has said it will not do so, and the government has so far survived all attempted no-confidence votes in recent months.

Macron was severely undermined in the national assembly after his centrist grouping failed to win an absolute majority in parliamentary elections last June amid gains for the far right and radical left.

Without a majority, Macron needed to rely on lawmakers from Les Républicains to back his pensions changes. But despite weeks of negotiations with Borne, the numbers did not add up, and the president decided not to risk a vote.