FRENCH police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon yesterday as hundreds of thousands demanded President Emmanuel Macron resign over the rising cost of living.

The “gilets jaunes” protests, named for the yellow high-vis jackets French motorists are obliged to have in their cars in case of breakdown, have taken place for over a week, sparked by rises in fuel duty that the government says are aimed at encouraging people to switch to electric cars.

Demonstrators built barricades in the streets and some were filmed ripping up paving stones and starting fires, prompting Mr Macron to denounce their “shameful violence” and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to accuse them of “sedition.”

Mr Castaner said the protests were a vehicle for the far right, but, while fascist leader Marine Le Pen has expressed support, so have most of the country’s left including France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointing out that cuts to public services, below-inflation pay rises and planned attacks on pensions next year are forcing people into poverty. Fabien Roussel, who replaced Pierre Laurent as leader of the Communist Party yesterday, said the government was responsible for violence for refusing to respond to “popular indignation.”

Polls suggest almost 80 per cent of the French support the demonstrators, with Mr Melenchon warning the president: “When taxes are not accepted, that starts revolutions in France.”

Protester Sylvie Poireau told a reporter from Britain’s Telegraph that “we’re made to pay higher taxes while they’ve scrapped the wealth tax. My daughter is handicapped and I struggle at the end of every month to buy food.”

And former environment minister Nicolas Hulot, who resigned in August, said that government attacks on the poor made revolt against fuel taxes “inevitable.”

He added: “I fought hard for the government to drastically change its approach to ensure the energy transition is socially fair. I was never listened to.”

Benoit Martin, an activist with Payday — a network of men who work with the Global Women’s Strike — told the Morning Star the government was accusing protesters of ignoring environmental issues, but “for most of them driving a car to work is not a choice.”

He spoke to a demonstrator, Severine, who told him it was “extraordinary” that the movement had sprung up without direction from political parties. “This is people, just people. I feel we are in a revolution. It’s very exciting.”