FRENCH unions vowed today to intensify the fight against the rise in the state pension age from 62 to 64 after President Emmanuel Macron insisted on Monday that the change was needed to keep the system afloat as the population ages.

In many cities, opponents of the changes signed into law by Mr Macron on Saturday took to the streets to bang pots and pans during Mondays televised address to the nation over the crisis that has engulfed the country.

Many shouted: “Macron won’t listen to us? We won’t listen to him!”