As Agence France-Presse reports, the protests \u2013 led by a loose left-wing collective called \u2018block everything\u2019 \u2013 could be a baptism of fire for Lecornu, 39, a close ally of Macron who has served the last three years as defence minister.<\/p>\n
Macron named Lecornu as prime minister late on Tuesday<\/a>, a day after his predecessor Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou<\/strong> lost a confidence vote in parliament, forcing him and his government to resign. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday at midday CEST (11am BST).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Reuters reports that disruption has already started. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau<\/strong> told reporters early on Wednesday that about 50 hooded people had tried to start a blockade in Bordeaux<\/strong>, while in Toulouse<\/strong>, a cable fire that had been stopped quickly had still managed to disrupt traffic between Toulouse and Auch<\/strong> in south-western France.<\/p>\n Retailleau said some actions had also taken place in Paris<\/strong> overnight, though he did not provide details. Paris police said that 75 people had been arrested in the demonstrations so far, but did not give details on where they took place or the reason for the arrests.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Vinci<\/strong>, a highway operator, reported protests and traffic disruptions on highways throughout France, including Marseille<\/strong>, Montpellier<\/strong>, Nantes<\/strong> and Lyon<\/strong>. Retailleau said 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. French media had reported that 100,000 people were expected to participate in the demonstrations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe risk having a mobilisation that will lead to actions all over the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Stay with us for all the day\u2019s developments in France and across Europe<\/strong>. My colleague Jakub Krupa<\/a><\/strong> is following news in the Ukraine<\/strong> war after the overnight incursion of Russian<\/strong> drones into Poland<\/strong>. You can read his blog here<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Here is a live stream from the Gare du Nord station<\/strong> in Paris<\/strong> where \u2018block everything\u2019 protesters have gathered:<\/p>\n France24 reports, citing Paris<\/strong> police, that a \u201cthousand determined individuals\u201d made an \u201cattempted intrusion\u201d at Gare du Nord station<\/strong>. Paris police headquarters said the large group had been stopped from entering the train station by the police.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.07 EDT<\/p>\n In the southern port city of Marseille<\/strong>, police stopped 200 demonstrators from blockading a main road, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).<\/p>\n Anti-riot police officers move rocks placed on the road by protesters during a demonstration as part of the \u2018block everything\u2019 movement, in Marseille, south-eastern France, on Wednesday. Photograph: Miguel Medina\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n French<\/strong> president Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>\u2019s decision to name a close ally as prime minister was a \u201cslap in the face\u201d, said Florent<\/strong>, a protester in Lyon<\/strong> who gave only his first name to the AFP. \u201cWe need change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Protesters react during a demonstration as part of the \u2018block everything\u2019 movement in Marseille, southern France, on Wednesday. Photograph: Christophe Simon\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.51 EDT<\/p>\n Groups of protesters repeatedly tried to block Paris<\/strong>\u2019 beltway during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, reports the Associated Press (AP).<\/p>\n They erected barricades and hurled objects at police officers, blocked and slowed traffic and carried out other protest actions.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In Paris<\/strong>, firefighters removed burnt objects from a barricade set up by students to block traffic near a high school. Paris police said 132 people had been arrested in the demonstrations there so far \u2013 an increase on the 75 reported earlier (see opening summary<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same shit, it\u2019s the same, it\u2019s Macron who\u2019s the problem, not the ministers,\u201d Fred<\/strong>, a representative for the RATP public transport branch of the CGT union<\/strong> said at a protest in Paris, according to the Associated Press (AP). \u201cThe ministers, it\u2019s a problem, but it\u2019s more Macron and his way of working, which means he has to go.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u2018block everything\u2019 movement \u2013 a broad expression of discontent with no centralised leadership and an ad hoc organisation by social media \u2013 sprung up online in May among right-wing groups, researchers and officials said, but has since been taken over by the left and far-left.<\/p>\n A protester holds up a placard during a demonstration, as part of a grassroots protest movement called \u2018block everything\u2019, in Nantes, France on Wednesday. Photograph: St\u00e9phane Mah\u00e9\/Reuters<\/p>\n In the western city of Nantes<\/strong>, protesters blocked a motorway with burning tires and bins. Police used teargas to disperse people trying to occupy a roundabout in the same city.<\/p>\n In Montpellier<\/strong>, in the south-west, police scuffled with protesters who had set up a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout. A protester carried a banner that read: \u201cMacron resign\u201d. Police used teargas to disperse the protesters, some of whom threw various objects at them, reports the AP.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.21 EDT<\/p>\n Explainer: What is the ‘block everything’ movement?<\/p>\n Here is a bit of background, via the Associated Press (AP) on the \u2018block everything\u2019 movement:<\/p>\n The \u2018bloquons tout\u2019 (block everything) movement had gathered momentum on social media and in encrypted chats over the summer. Its call for a day of blockades, strikes, demonstrations, and other acts of protest comes as [Emmanuel] Macron \u2013 one of the movement\u2019s main targets \u2013 installed his fourth prime minister in 12 months. <\/p>\n The movement, which has grown virally with no clear identified leadership, has a broad array of demands \u2013 many targeting contested belt-tightening budget plans that [Fran\u00e7ois] Bayrou championed before his demise \u2013 as well as broader complaints about inequality. <\/p>\n Calls online for strikes, boycotts, blockades and other forms of protest on Wednesday have been accompanied with appeals to avoid violence. <\/p>\n The spontaneity of \u2018block everything\u2019 is reminiscent of the \u2018yellow vest\u2019 movement that rocked Macron\u2019s first term as president. It started with workers camping out at traffic circles to protest a rise in fuel taxes, sporting high-visibility vests. It quickly spread to people across political, regional, social and generational divides angry at economic injustice and Macron\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.01 EDT<\/p>\n Here are some images from the protests coming in today via the newswires:<\/p>\n A French gendarme stands next to a bus burnt by protesters in the southern ring road in Rennes, during a demonstration as part of the \u2018block everything\u2019 protest, on Wednesday. Photograph: Damien Meyer\/AFP\/Getty ImagesGraffiti reading \u2018Macron and your world, get lost!\u2019 is seen as protesters block the Cadix viaduct during a demonstration as part of the \u2018block everything\u2019 protest movement, near Caen, north-western France. Photograph: Lou Benoist\/AFP\/Getty ImagesProtesters and caregivers on strike gather in front of the Tenon hospital during a day of protests in Paris as part of the \u2018block everything\u2019 protest movement. The slogan on the placard reads \u2018Heir cruelty is not accidental\u2019. Photograph: Beno\u00eet Tessier\/ReutersPlacards, picturing France’s president Emmanuel Macron (R) and French businessman and CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault, reading \u2018We do not want any more\u2019 are displayed during a \u2018block everything\u2019 demonstration in Marseille, southern France. Photograph: Christophe Simon\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a>Two hundred arrested in France as protesters clash with police<\/p>\n According to the Associated Press (AP), the interior minister announced nearly 200 arrests in the first hours of the planned day of nationwide protests in France<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Although falling short of its self-declared intention to \u2018block everything\u2019, the protest movement that started online and gathered steam over the summer caused widespread hotspots of disruption, defying an exceptional deployment of 80,000 police who broke up barricades and swiftly made arrests, reports the AP. <\/p>\n Interior minister Bruno Retailleau<\/strong> said a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes<\/strong> and that damage to a power line blocked trains on a line in the south-west. He alleged that protesters were attempting to create \u201ca climate of insurrection\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Opening summary: New French PM to take office as country braces for ‘block everything’ protests<\/p>\n France<\/strong>\u2019s new prime minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu<\/strong> takes office on Wednesday with the country facing a day of protests that are expected to see disruption to transport, education and other services in a show of grassroots anger against president Emmanuel Macron<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As Agence France-Presse reports, the protests \u2013 led by a loose left-wing collective called \u2018block everything\u2019 \u2013 could be a baptism of fire for Lecornu, 39, a close ally of Macron who has served the last three years as defence minister.<\/p>\n Macron named Lecornu as prime minister late on Tuesday<\/a>, a day after his predecessor Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou<\/strong> lost a confidence vote in parliament, forcing him and his government to resign. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday at midday CEST (11am BST).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Reuters reports that disruption has already started. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau<\/strong> told reporters early on Wednesday that about 50 hooded people had tried to start a blockade in Bordeaux<\/strong>, while in Toulouse<\/strong>, a cable fire that had been stopped quickly had still managed to disrupt traffic between Toulouse and Auch<\/strong> in south-western France.<\/p>\n Retailleau said some actions had also taken place in Paris<\/strong> overnight, though he did not provide details. Paris police said that 75 people had been arrested in the demonstrations so far, but did not give details on where they took place or the reason for the arrests.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Vinci<\/strong>, a highway operator, reported protests and traffic disruptions on highways throughout France, including Marseille<\/strong>, Montpellier<\/strong>, Nantes<\/strong> and Lyon<\/strong>. Retailleau said 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. French media had reported that 100,000 people were expected to participate in the demonstrations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe risk having a mobilisation that will lead to actions all over the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Stay with us for all the day\u2019s developments in France and across Europe<\/strong>. My colleague Jakub Krupa<\/a><\/strong> is following news in the Ukraine<\/strong> war after the overnight incursion of Russian<\/strong> drones into Poland<\/strong>. You can read his blog here<\/p>\n![\"\u201cBlock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757499314_276_6000.jpg\")
\u201cBlock everything\u201d activists gather near the Gare du Nord in Paris \u2013 watch live Share<\/a>Police stop group of about 1,000 protesters entering Gare du Nord station<\/p>\n\n