FRENCH REVOLUTION: Macron has hit by REFERENDUM demands – President has ‘run out of fuel’ 

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Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech after a meeting on “the strategy for ecology transition” (Image: Ian Langsdon/Pool via REUTERS)

The French leaker likened the anti-fuel tax riots on the Champs-Elysées shopping boulevard at the weekend to ‘war scenes,’ as he slammed the “thugs” behind the rising violence. But critics have hit out at the President for his reaction. Mr Wauquiez, leader of the right-wing Les Républicains party, told CNews television: “We are in a deadlock situation. And the only way to end this deadlock is to let the French speak for themselves. The public must be consulted, and for this we need a referendum. It is the tool of the Fifth Republic.” 

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French Revolution (Image: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)

Mr Macron said earlier on Tuesday he understood the anger felt by voters over the squeeze that fuel prices have put on spending power, but insisted he would not be forced into a policy change by protesters. 

He however acknowledged that the increase in diesel tax, which kicked in just as pump prices were rising, had hit people in the wallet harder than anticipated. 

He tried to cool the anger of demonstrators, dubbed “yellow vests” because of the fluorescent safety jackets all French drivers must own in case of car troubles, with a proposal to review fuel tax rates every three months to take into account global oil prices.

The price of diesel, the most commonly used car fuel in France, has risen by around 23 per cent over the past 12 months to an average of 1.51 euros (£1.32) per litre.

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Leader of the right-wing Les Républicains party, Mr Wauquiez (Image: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Global oil prices did rise before dropping again, but the Macron government raised its hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents per litre on diesel and 3.9 cents on petrol, as part of a campaign to cut pollution and fight climate change. 

For over a week, “yellow vest” protesters have crippled traffic across France and blocked access to some fuel depots, shopping centres and factories in protest against the tax hikes.

Two people have been accidentally killed and more than 600 injured during the 12 days of unrest.

“We must not change course, because the policy direction is right and necessary,” Mr Macron added as he outlined his blueprint for a transition towards cleaner energy. 

“I will not confuse citizens and their demands with thugs… I will not cede any ground to those who want to destroy and create disorder,” he continued, in reference to the “yellow vest” riots that turned Paris’ Champs-Elysées shopping avenue into a “battlefield” on Saturday. 

He also admitted that his administration needed to be smarter in its policymaking to avoid the emergence of a “two-speed France,” one where workers living in rural areas were left behind and grew more frustrated with the urban elite.

But the president’s political rivals were as unconvinced with Mr Macron’s proposals as Mr Wauquiez.  

Far-right chief Marine Le Pen said his speech was “confused” and “devoid of solutions,” while far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the young president was “running out of fuel”. 

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The “yellow vest” riots have turned Paris’ Champs-Elysées shopping avenue into a “battlefield” (Image: Chesnot/Getty Images)

Socialist Party chief Oliver Faure said Mr Macron was turning a deaf ear to voters’ complaints.

“This is not just about the fuel tax, this is also about the erosion of buying power. But on this issue the president has remained silent – completely silent,” Mr Faure told the news channel BFM TV. 

Les Républicains spokeswoman Laurence Sailliet described the current social climate as “desperate”. 

“What this speech tells us is that Emmanuel Macron has not gone out into the street nor turned on his television since the ‘yellow vests’ started expressing their suffering,” she said. 

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76 per cent of French people think that Mr Macron’s proposals “are not enough” (Image: XAVIER LEOTY/AFP/Getty Images)

A poll published shortly after Mr Macron’s speech showed that three out of four French people are unimpressed with his efforts to end the fuel crisis.  

The survey of 1,013 people, conducted by pollster Opinionway for RTL radio, LCI television and Le Figaro daily on November 21-22, showed that 76 per cent of French people think that Mr Macron’s proposals – namely the offer to review tax rates quarterly – “are not enough”. 

The poll also showed that 78 per cent of the French want the Macron government to scrap the increase in fuel prices, scheduled for January 1.