Fresh violence erupted on the streets of Paris this afternoon as Yellow Vest protesters set fires and clashed with police.
French demonstrators marched through the capital and other cities on Saturday in protest against high living costs.In Paris, protests began peacefully but turned chaotic in the afternoon as protesters hurled missiles at riot police barricading bridges over the Seine river.Rubbish bins were also torched, in scenes similar to protests last year.
Officers fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of demonstrators crossing the river and reaching the National Assembly.One riverboat restaurant was also set on fire and a policeman was wounded when he was struck by a bicycle hurled from a street above the riverbank.
Some confrontations between police and protesters took place in other cities around France, with tear gas fired in Bordeaux in the southwest and in Rouen in Normandy.No official figures have been issued for the number of protesters who turned out around France or in Paris.Protester Francois Cordier said: “We’re fed up with having to pay out the whole time, we’ve had eough of this slavery, we should be able to live on our salaries.”The protests follow on from initial Yellow Vest protests in Paris and across the country which started two months ago.
The finance minister for France had previously claimed the violent protests staged in the country were an “economic catastrophe”.Bruno Le Maire also said the Yellow Vest protests have also been a “crisis” for democracy and society.Last month, French president Emmanuael Macron promised tax cuts for pensioners, wage rises for the poorest workers and the scrapping of planned fuel tax increases.
www.standard.co.uk
