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LATEST: 'Yellow vest' road blocks continue with Macron under pressure to respond

The Local France
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LATEST: 'Yellow vest' road blocks continue with Macron under pressure to respond
Photo: AFP

President Emmanuel Macron and his government were set to announce measures aimed at taking the sting out of the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protests that continued for a 10th day around France on Monday.

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There were filtered road blocks in place across France on Monday morning as anti-government "yellow vest" protesters continued their fight against rising fuel taxes and declining living standards.

The number of operations were at a far lower level than seen in recent days nevertheless motorists could run into difficulty on roads in parts of the country including Brittany, particularly the Côte d'Armor, Morbihan and Finistere departments.

In Normandy protesters were in place to slow traffic on roads leading into the city of Rouen and blockades were also in place outside Le Havre and on the Tancarville bridge.

But there were also road blocks in place to the east of Strasbourg and on the N66 in the Haut-Rhin department in eastern France.

in Bordeaux there were reports that protesters had blocked the entrance to a bus depot in the city meaning some services were disrupted.

The government looks set to respond after a week of protests culminated in violence on the Champs-Elysées on Saturday when protesters clashed with riot police that left the famous avenue looking like a war zone.

Macron is promising a "social pact" to help people pay for the so-called "ecological transition" as they switch to greener cars and ways of heating their homes.

Measures are expected to be announced on Monday morning after a cabinet meeting while Macron will appear on TV t explain his response on Tuesday.

A new bill presented by the transport minister is also expected to include measures to boost public transport in rural France to try to reduce people's reliance on cars.

The question the yellow vest protesters are asking now is "where do we go from here?"

Already there is talk on social media of organising another protest in Paris next Saturday, with tens of thousands suggesting they are ready to take part.

But some of the movement's unofficial leaders are not supporting the idea of a new protest and prefer to wait for the measures to be announced by the government.

 

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