France braces for a day of strikes amid fears over new PM's budget

France is braced for one of its biggest strike days for years as trade unions make a rare show of unity to pressure the new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, to rethink budget cuts and act on wages, pensions and public services.

- Angelique Chrisafis

About 800,000 people are expected to take to the streets in marches across the country today, according to police, with schools, rail and air transport affected. A total of 80,000 police will be deployed.

It is expected to be the biggest day of street demonstrations since 2023's protests against the use of executive powers to push through Emmanuel Macron's unpopular raising of the French pension age to 64 without a vote in parliament.

Lecornu must address the anger felt in France, Perrine Mohr, of the moderate CFDT trade union in the northern Hauts-de-France region, told the local public radio station Ici.

She said that since Macron came to power in 2017, “we have had a government that is pro-business, with tax relief and unconditional assistance to businesses. What we're asking is that the future government is more pro-workers and pro-citizens.”

France is in the midst of a political crisis after Macron last week named his close ally Lecornu as the third prime minister in a year - after François Bayrou and Michel Barnier were ousted by parliament amid bitter disagreements over the budget.