Emmanuel Macron, France president, defended his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age on Wednesday as being key to repairing the public finances but acknowledged public anger over his government’s decision to pass the law without a parliamentary vote.

“Do you think I enjoy doing this reform? No,” said Macron in a televised interview. “But there are not a hundred ways to balance the accounts . . . this reform is not a luxury or a pleasure, it’s a necessity for the country.”

It was the first time Macron had spoken publicly since his government forced the pension bill through parliament and survived the resulting no-confidence votes.

Since then, scattered small-scale protests have erupted nightly in cities from Paris to Rennes, leading to more than 800 arrests. Labour unions have vowed to keep up the pressure with a nationwide demonstration set for Thursday.

Officials are monitoring the situation closely — 12,000 police officers will be deployed on Thursday — because they fear a return to the chaotic days of the gilets jaunes protests of 2018.

Macron said he respected the constitutional rights of citizens to demonstrate peacefully, but condemned the actions of some protesters who threatened MPs and defaced their offices. “We will not tolerate any outbursts,” he said.

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