FRENCH ministers were forced yesterday to back down on plans to ban a march against a hated anti-worker law following an outcry by trade unions and rebel MPs.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he had personally ordered the ban but then decided to allow the protest after an emergency meeting with unions yesterday where a compromise was reached on where the rally could be held.

Hours earlier, Paris’s police chief had said he had “no choice but to ban the demonstration” for supposed safety reasons after the unions refused to stage the protest in the Place de la Bastille, wanting instead to march through the streets.