The French government has collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier lost a vote of no confidence.

It follows his decision to use special powers to force a social security budget through the lower house of parliament without a final vote after a last-minute concession was not enough to win support from the far-right National Rally (RN).

In the end far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined forces to back a no-confidence motion in Mr Barnier and his government. The National Assembly approved the motion by 331 votes. A minimum of 288 were needed.

The outcome marks the first time a French government has lost a confidence vote since 1962.

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Mr Barnier, formerly the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is expected to tender his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron shortly.

The 73-year-old was appointed in September and will become the shortest-serving prime minister in France’s modern Republic.

Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally party, said after the vote that she is not calling for Mr Macron’s resignation but “pressure is piling up”.

Mr Macron, on his way back from a presidential visit to Saudi Arabia, said discussions about him potentially resigning were “make-believe politics”, according to French media reports.

He is due to address the people of France tomorrow evening following the result of the no confidence vote.

The outcome means he will need to appoint a new prime minister for the second time after July’s legislative elections led to a deeply-divided parliament.

The National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is fractured, with no single party holding a majority. It comprises three major blocs: Macron’s centrist allies; the left-wing coalition New Popular Front; and the far-right National Rally.

The escalating political crisis in France has threatened to send the eurozone’s second-biggest economy into uncertain territory.

It comes at a time of tension in Europe, with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and the war in Ukraine continuing to drag on.

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Analysis: Barnier’s rivals smelled blood and rounded on him

Dominic Waghorn

International affairs editor

@DominicWaghorn

He was meant to be the man to dig Emmanuel Macron out of a hole.

The skilled negotiator who ran rings around the British during the interminable Brexit negotiations.

Michel Barnier’s short-lived spell in power began with some promise. The far-right French leader Marine Le Pen said he was someone she could do business with, but the honeymoon was short-lived.

Mr Barnier’s rivals smelled blood and rounded on him. They rejected attempts to bring pragmatism to the task of resolving France’s mounting fiscal crisis. In frustration, he tried to ram his plan through parliament, triggering a vote of no confidence.

He has now paid the price after a long illustrious career in French politics and has become the first prime minister to lose such a vote since 1962. The hole he was meant to extricate his master from has only deepened.

His former British antagonists in the Brexit negotiations may have a feeling of schadenfreude, others may be more sympathetic.

His master, President Macron, must now find someone else to take on the job, which could be seen as a poisoned chalice. They will find it equally challenging trying to resolve the impasse.

France spends far more than it brings in through revenues, and that deficit is unsustainable, says the European Union. But the longer this instability goes on, the cost of borrowing for the French state could only increase, potentially leading to a spiralling crisis.

And the fate of the country’s president is central to all this. Emmanuel Macron says he will stay in the job until 2027 and his office is vested with great executive powers under the constitution of the Fifth Republic.

The more he wields them though, the more his enemies will make the charge he is acting undemocratically. That may ease the far right’s accession to power should he end up being forced to resign. There is a huge amount at stake.

Why did the vote take place?

The vote of no confidence in Mr Barnier rose from fierce opposition to his proposed budget for 2025.

This week, he decided to use special powers to push through his budget, having failed to receive support from MPs.

That decision angered the National Rally party and the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP), both of which tabled no-confidence motions in him.

France is struggling to tame a massive budget deficit which is projected to exceed 6% of national output this year.

Mr Barnier’s budget had sought to cut the fiscal deficit with €60bn (£49.7bn) in tax hikes and spending cuts.

It aimed to cut the deficit down to 5% next year.

France under pressure from EU

In his final speech before the vote, Mr Barnier said: “As this mission may soon come to an end, I can tell you that it will remain an honour for me to have served France and the French with dignity.

“This no-confidence motion… will make everything more serious and more difficult. That’s what I’m sure of.”

France is under pressure from the European Union to reduce its colossal debt.

The country’s deficit is estimated to rise to 7% next year without drastic adjustments.

The political instability could push up French interest rates, deepening the debt even further.

The man at the centre of negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire has told Sky News Donald Trump wants a deal done before he takes power in January. 

Speaking exclusively to Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim, the prime minister of Qatar expressed cautious optimism but said it required “maximum pressure” on all parties to end the fighting.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al Thani said Mr Trump’s advisers and the incoming administration have said they want the situation resolved by his 20 January inauguration.

“We are trying to coordinate with them our efforts, and all of us, we agree, and we are hoping to get over this situation before the president comes to the office,” he said.

The prime minister said the Trump team “want this to be resolved now – today even”.

Mr al Thani also defended Hamas being allowed to continue operating its political office from Doha, Qatar’s capital.

He stressed it was set up “with full transparency and coordination, and at the request of the US and Israel at that time to have this as to be used as a negotiation platform”.

He said multiple ceasefires had been brokered through the office since 2014.

“There are tons of situations where we have prevented an escalation from the beginning in order not to put ourselves in a situation like what we ended up with on 7 October,” he said.

The prime minister added: “There will be always be criticism, a lot of parties who will not like this kind of policy, yes, but it’s needed.”

Negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire have so far proved unsuccessful, with more than 44,500 Palestinians killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas after the group killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages in its October 2023 terror attack.

About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza – but at least a third are believed to be dead.

On Monday, Donald Trump said there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released before he re-enters the White House.

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America,” he wrote on his Truth Social site.

Speaking about what Mr Trump’s re-election means for the Middle East – including relations with Iran – the Qatari prime minister said there were “a lot of risks” but “plenty of opportunities”.

“I hope that everyone sees these opportunities,” he added.

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Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, is currently in the UK for a state visit and a lavish banquet was held in his honour at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The Gulf state’s prime minister told Sky News the trip was a “celebration” of long-standing links between Britain and Qatar – and that it was especially welcome as loyalty was “in short supply in the world”.

He also addressed criticism of Qatar’s human rights record, with some urging Sir Keir Starmer to raise the issue during the visit.

Campaigners have frequently accused it of abuses against migrant workers, curtailing freedom of expression, and discrimination against women and LGBTQ people.

Mr al Thani said the wealthy Gulf state was doing its best to address issues.

“It’s unfortunate sometimes when we see all this criticism in human rights or so-called human rights records in Qatar,” he said.

“We are not saying that we are a perfect nation or a perfect country, but we are a country that when we see there is something wrong, we acknowledge the facts that these are wrong things, and we are trying to do our best according to our systems and our customs, to modify it and to reform it.”

Police in New York are hunting a gunman who shot dead a healthcare executive outside a hotel in what was a “brazen targeted attack”.

Brian Thompson, who had been the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare since April 2021, was killed outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

The gunman, who was wearing a face mask, was lying in wait for about five minutes before he approached the 50-year-old victim from behind.

He opened fire several times, shooting him in the back and leg. He then walks towards Mr Thompson and continues to shoot.

Police said the weapon jammed during the attack, which happened at around 6.45am local time on Wednesday. But the shooter cleared the jam and started firing again.

The suspect then fled on foot before getting on a GPS-tracked e-bike and was last seen in Central Park.

Mr Thompson, who lived in Minnesota, was taken to a nearby hospital but could not be saved.

Police are still searching for the suspect and are offering a $10,000 (£7,866) reward for information. Officers also said they did not yet have a motive for the shooting.

Photos taken from CCTV footage shows a man wearing a grey backpack riding a bicycle, and another photo of the individual appearing to be pointing a gun.

The suspect was described as a light-skinned male, wearing a light brown or cream coloured jacket, a black face mask, black and white trainers and distinctive grey rucksack.

Police said there was another person standing next to Mr Thompson when he was attacked outside the hotel, and are in the process of identifying them.

New York City’s police commissioner Jessica Tisch said the shooting was a “brazen, targeted attack”.

“This does not appear to be a random act of violence. Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack,” she said.

Who was Brian Thompson?

James Sillars

Business and economics reporter

@SkyNewsBiz

Brian Thompson was the boss of UnitedHealth’s insurance division.

He had been at the company, in various roles, for 20 years and had served in his current job since 2021.

Mr Thompson worked under group chief executive Sir Andrew Witty, the experienced British executive best known in the UK for his tenure in charge at pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline in the early 2000s.

UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare health insurance plans in the United States – policies that holders generally find cause to complain about industry-wide.

Medicare plans cover people aged 65 or older and younger people with disabilities.

America’s healthcare insurance costs rank as the most expensive in the world.

The firm also manages health insurance for companies.

Mr Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, said that he had been receiving threats.

“There had been some threats,” she said in a phone call to Sky’s US partner network, NBC News. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”

“I can’t really give a thoughtful response right now. I just found this out and I’m trying to console my children,” she added.

The attack happened as the company was scheduled to have its annual meeting with investors on Wednesday morning in the Hilton. Mr Thompson had arrived in New York on Monday to attend the meeting and was staying in a hotel opposite the Hilton.

It is understood Mr Thompson was in charge of organising the conference and was due to speak at the meeting.

“We’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members, and as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today,” UnitedHealth’s chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said.

The suspect was described as using a firearm with a silencer, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the incident.

UnitedHealthcare is the insurance arm of the healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group.

In a statement, it said: “Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him. We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

“Our hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him.”

There have been no arrests, and the investigation is active and ongoing.

The scene of the shooting is a short walk from tourist sites such as the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Centre. The popular Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree lighting is set to take place Wednesday evening.