Fourth Saturday of protests: 146,000 demonstrators in France according to the Interior Ministry, two yellow vest spokespeople in police custody

The day's toll

According to the Interior Ministry, 146,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris. The youth union alliance puts the number of demonstrators at 250,000, including 75,000 in the capital. Both counts are down on Thursday, when the authorities counted 65,000 demonstrators in Paris.

The government recorded at least 232 arrests, franceinfo reports. In Paris, the police prefecture reported 259 people fined and 8,147 checks. In Marseille, the prefecture counted 5,200 demonstrators.

How the afternoon unfolded

For the fourth Saturday in a row, the street made itself heard again. In Paris, police counted 46,000 people in the march that set off at 2pm from place de la République towards Nation, compared with 65,000 on Thursday. According to France 3, the mood was good-natured. A source quoted by AFP had expected 60,000 demonstrators in the capital and 130,000 to 170,000 across France.

The rallying cries: the cost of living, wages, the Smic minimum wage and, for the Union étudiante, the abolition of Parcoursup, the university admissions platform, and higher student grants.

Concorde banned, two arrests

The yellow vest coordination had kept up plans for a rally on place de la Concorde, which had been banned by the police prefecture. Only a few dozen people turned up, according to franceinfo, around ten according to France 3.

Two of its figureheads, Benjamin Ball and Azelma Sigaux, were arrested at around 2pm near the Assemblée nationale. France 3 and Sud Radio report that they were placed in police custody at the 17th arrondissement police station. According to their lawyer, David Libeskind, quoted by CNews with AFP, they are accused of organising a banned demonstration, even though they were not arrested at the site of the rally. No release or extension of their custody had been announced overnight in the articles consulted. They remain presumed innocent.

On place de la Concorde, around thirty people according to the prefecture were surrounded, checked and then fined for breaching the ban order, with fines of €135, according to CNews.

Azelma Sigaux told franceinfo that she had been arrested together with her colleague Benjamin Ball.

Clashes in Lyon

In Lyon, where no demonstration had been declared, clashes broke out between demonstrators and the security forces, with tear gas used, reports Sud Radio, which mentions ten arrests.

Nationally, sources close to the Interior Ministry counted 7,000 demonstrators across 68 actions and 18 arrests at 2pm, and spoke of a clear decline. That early figure, recorded at the very start of the marches, was exceeded by the end-of-day tally. The security deployment remained massive: 70,000 police officers and gendarmes.

What next

Everything hinges on Monday 9 November at Matignon, the Prime Minister's office. Sébastien Lecornu is receiving unions and employers at 9.30am for a social conference on purchasing power, followed by representatives of secondary school and university students from 3.30pm to 5pm. The union alliance will then decide on the next steps for the movement.