France riots live updates: Protesters clash with police in central Paris as Macron pleads 'for unity'

French politicians have been reacting to President Macron's national address in the last hour.

Bruno Retailleau, the president of the Republicans, said Macron appeared 'completely overwhelmed, incapable of opposing the force of the state to the chaos threatening the Republic'.

He said he needed to 'take responsibility and declare a state of emergency to protect the French people'.

Yannick Jadot, Paris Senator, hit out at a 'terrible demonstration of Emmanuel Macron's impotence'.

'Our country [is] like a drunken ship taking on water from all sides, without a rudder or a captain', he said.

Sophie Vénétitay, head of the leading secondary school teachers’ union, SNES-FSU, said: 'On the education front, there’s still a complete void. It’s been almost a month since high school students started their mobilization, with our support, and Emmanuel Macron didn’t put forward anything concrete this (Sunday) evening.'

Edouard Philippe, the former prime minister and mayor of Le Havre, similarly criticised Macron for not announcing any concrete measures in response to the riots and would have preferred initiatives that would 'restore order and re-establishing the authority of the State'.

'Our country needs to be led', he said. However, he did acknowledge his willingness to restore dialogue. to address the violence.