Macron ‘lacks HUMILITY’, according to a former minister, as pressure mounts

Trade unions launched hundreds of nationwide protest on Tuesday and called on workers, students and pensioners to unite.

According to the unions, Mr Macron’s policies towards business are “destroying France’s social model” and are attacking “once again the weakest, most precarious and the poorest.”

The French President’s reforms aim to change the current system and to make it more beneficial for the individual.

His policies tie pensions to on-job performance as well as unemployment benefits and to trying to find work.

In August, Mr Macron said: “The priority is simple: build the welfare state of the 21st century.”

However, the striking unions say these reforms would introduce “a logic of individualisation which undermines solidarity and social justice”.

Some more moderate unions refused to participate in the strikes.

One of these unions is the CFBT and with other unions also not participating, it is believed it will not cause the President to many problems.

There was not believed to be a major impact on public transportation and the size of the protests were significantly smaller than those that took place earlier in the year.

But, the protests are still likely to add pressure to Mr Macron along with an imminent reshuffle that is likely to take place after his interior minister resigned.

Mr Macron’s interior minister Gerard Collomb confronted the minister last week on October 3 to deliver his resignation.

Mr Collomb’s resignation took place just weeks following the resignations of two other ministers.

Despite the former interior minister being one of Mr Macron’s earliest allies, he later became very critical of him.

He said: “Very few of us can still talk to Macron.

“Soon he won’t put up with me anymore. But if we all bow down before him he’ll end up isolated.”

Mr Collomb added the President “lacks humility” and has been seeing his approval rating cut in half from when he first took office.

The President and his prime minister Edouard Philippe will be performing their second cabinet reshuffle in two months with this one expected to be much larger.

Speaker of the National Assembly and Macron ally Richard Ferrand said: “We need to remain true to our initial project, but we need a breath of fresh air.”