Michel Barnier, the French prime minister, is set to be forced out of his post this week in a move that would leave the country facing a political crisis unlike anything it has experienced for six decades. His fall risks dragging France deeper into a crisis that has already sent shockwaves across the Continent, amid concerns that the EU’s second biggest power is now ungovernable and burdened by a spiralling public debt. Barnier, who announced that he would push through a controversial budget, appeared to have only a slender chance of keeping his job after he dared opposition parties to vote in a no confidence motion that he warned would take France into “unknown territory”. After the populist right National Rally said it would back the left-wing motion due to go before the National Assembly on Wednesday or Thursday, Barnier’s fate seems sealed, barring a last minute turnaround. Not since 1962 has a French prime minister suffered the humiliation of being ousted by parliament. Within minutes of Barnier’s apparent gamble, the euro plunged by 1.01 per cent against the dollar and by 0.21 per cent against the pound. France’s borrowing costs also escalated sharply. At one point, French costs rose above those of Greece in a sign that confidence in Paris is plummeting on world markets. Talks between Marine Le Pen’s party and the conservative prime minister have been going on for two weeks Talks between Marine Le Pen’s party and the conservative prime minister have been going on for two weeks MOHAMAD SALAHELDIN ABDELG ALSAYED/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES The tumble underlined the jitters besetting financial markets at the prospect of seeing the French public deficit — already expected to reach 6.2 per cent of GDP this year — increase still further without a government at the helm. [1]President Macron is in the firing line, with detractors lining up to blame him for leading France into an impasse. Critics of the centrist, who became France’s youngest head of state since Napoleon Bonaparte when he was elected in 2017, are already suggesting that only his resignation could end the turmoil. Barnier — [2]appointed by Macron in September in the hope that he could end the political deadlock that had followed the president’s unexpected decision to call snap parliamentary elections this summer — was already the weakest prime minister in recent French history. • [3]Marine Le Pen’s chance to oust Michel Barner and why she may regret it Now he is in danger of becoming the shortest-lived as well after he announced that he would use an executive order to push through the legislation on next year’s social security budget. Barnier, 73, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, made the announcement after realising that his bill stood no chance of being approved by the National Assembly, where the loose-knit coalition of centrists and conservatives is outweighed. His move opens the way for opposition parties to put down motions of no confidence in the government. The left immediately said it would do so and [4]Marine Le Pen, the rally figurehead, announced that her party would back the motion. Together, they have enough MPs to topple Barnier’s cabinet. Barnier made a series of concessions to Le Pen, 56, who effectively has his fate in her hands. He had bowed to her demands to scrap plans to raise a tax on electricity and to make patients pay for some medicines out of their own pockets instead of receiving them free from the welfare state. But he has refused another demand to raise state pensions in line with inflation in January for all retired people. Barnier could still save his skin by performing a U-turn over this request, although he appears to have ruled out any such capitulation. His aides say he has made enough concessions already to Le Pen whom they accuse of acting “like a blackmailer”. Barnier told parliament: “We have reached a moment of truth which means that everyone has to face up to their responsibilities.” President Macron appointed Barnier in September in the hope that he could end the political deadlock President Macron appointed Barnier in September in the hope that he could end the political deadlock BUDA MENDES/GETTY IMAGES He told MPs they had a choice between backing the government and “taking France into unknown territory”. “I think very sincerely that the French people would not forgive us if we prefer [party] interests over the future of the nation. The French people … want stability.” Barnier came to office pledging to save €60 billion through spending cuts and tax rises, and warning of financial meltdown if he was prevented from implementing the plan. His words fell on deaf ears as Le Pen denounced the government’s social security budget as “profoundly unjust”. She accused Barnier of wanting to “make the French pay for the consequences of Emmanuel Macron’s incompetence over the past seven years”. She added: “It is wrong to punish the French people for acts for which they are not responsible and for which their leaders are responsible.” Mathilde Panot, a prominent MP with the radical left France Unbowed party, said: “Michel Barnier will probably enter history as the shortest lived prime minister of the Fifth French Republic [which came into force in 1958]. “All that is left now is for the president to quit.” References 1. https://www.thetimes.com/topic/emmanuel-macron 2. https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/michel-barnier-in-the-frame-to-be-french-prime-minister-hmhg7hnjh 3. https://www.thetimes.com/article/marine-le-pen-oust-michel-barnier-hmjzrxzxw 4. https://www.thetimes.com/topic/marine-le-pen