Block Everything: Macron's PM pick adds to anger

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00:00Thousands of people have taken to the streets across France as part of the so-called block

00:04everything movement. Demonstrators built barricades from rubbish bins, blocked schools and roads

00:09and pelted police with garbage earlier this Wednesday. 80,000 police have been deployed

00:14nationwide and so far some 300 people have been arrested. The protests are a broad expression

00:20of anger at the political class and planned budget cuts. It has no centralized leadership

00:25and was organized over social media. For more on the action in Paris, we can cross live

00:30to our reporter Antonia Kerrigan. Antonia, you're at Place du Châtelet in central Paris.

00:36What's going on where you are?

00:42Hi there, Karis. Well, this is one of the authorized protests as opposed to one of the underground

00:48organizations from social media. But protesters have really gathered here. They've gravitated

00:54from other areas where protesters have been dispersed. Now, if I give you an idea, around

00:59two hours ago, there were probably only 100 people. If you look behind me, the mobilization

01:05is absolutely vast. Now, as it's grown, we've seen different groups of protesters arriving,

01:13some of them in protest formation, if you will, arriving triumphantly, brandishing placards

01:21and showing and brandishing flares above their heads, some of them chanting as well. And of course,

01:29the police presence has grown as the number of protesters has increased. As you said, around 300

01:36arrests have been made so far across France. Here, it remains fairly peaceful. Riot police are present at

01:44every point of access to this square. And we've also seen Brav M, that's mounted police officers on

01:51motorcycles, in pairs, in plain clothes. We've seen them circling. But we're yet to see any major

01:57interactions or any tension between police and protesters so far here at Place du Châtelet.

02:04Anna, Antonia, you've, of course, been talking to some of those demonstrators. What exactly are they

02:08saying and what are their demands? Well, I'd like to say, first and foremost,

02:16there's a huge variety of people here. Many are young protesters, a lot of them students,

02:22but also much older people into their 50s and 60s, many who have even come with children. So,

02:28a wide range of people represented here. Many of them, as, of course, one of the organizers here today

02:34in Châtelet are the trade unions. Many of them work in public sector professions,

02:39and they talk to me about public services that they consider being damaged by budget cuts.

02:44Many of them are outraged at François Bayrou's proposed budget, which was looking to cut 44

02:50billion euros in public spending. And one thing that came through in multiple people I spoke to

02:56was that they saw Emmanuel Macron's choice to appoint a new prime minister yesterday from his own political

03:02inner circle. The day before a protest such as this, they took that as a clear signal that he wasn't

03:08interested in listening to them.

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