French government collapses as Prime Minister Michel Barnier loses no-confidence vote
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 Barnier after the result of the vote. Pic: Reuters
Marine Le Pen laughs during a debate on the no confidence vote. Pic: Reuters
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
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.
Emmanuel Macron, right, in Saudi Arabia on the day of the no confidence vote. Pic: Reuters
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.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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