accused israel of committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. israel strenuously denies the allegations. hello and welcome. we start this hour with the political and financial crisis in france. for the first time in more than 60 years, the government has been brought down by a no—confidence vote by mps. michel barnier will present his resignation later becoming the shortest serving prime minister in the history of modern france. the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier. in the end, 331 were cast to remove him. the budget which was the cause of his downfall is now defunct. france has been plagued by political uncertainty since the summer election resulted in a hung parliament a result that can't be changed in an election before next july.

this is the scene live in paris where it has just gone ten o'clock in the morning. president macron will address the nation this evening. last night's volt was the first time a french government had been voted down by parliament in more than 60 year, now the question of what happens in next, the prime minister is likely to stay on as caretaker while mr macron chooses a successor. and, he is also expected to appoint that new prime minister quickly, not least because the us president—elect donald trump is due in paris this weekend for the opening of the notre—dame

cathedral after the fire, and of course all of the eyes of the world will be on paris, at that time. we are hearing that michel barnier has arrived at the elysee palace to submit his resignation to mr macron and as soon as that happens, as soon as we get pictures of that we will take you live to that scene but confirmation we are hearing from a news agency that the french prime minister michel barnier has arrived at the elysee to submit his resignation. the reason this matters beyond the border oafs france in terms of the political economic turmoil is that france is the second biggest economy in the eurozone, and its budget edeficit is ballooning beyond the eu norms. let us discuss more.

let's speak to journalist and broadcast christine 0ckrent. thank you for being with us. tell us a little bit about the significance then, i have touch °p significance then, i have touch op it there, how significant is this, notjust within the borders of france, but across the eu and beyond?- borders of france, but across the eu and beyond? well, again, as ou the eu and beyond? well, again, as you said. _ the eu and beyond? well, again, as you said, france _ the eu and beyond? well, again, as you said, france is _ the eu and beyond? well, again, as you said, france is the - as you said, france is the other pillar of the other eu economic and political balance, together with germany, and what is happening is that germany is in a political mess as well, as you know, they actually are preparing for general elections next february, and so having these two major countries in political shambles, these two major countries in politicalshambles, is these two major countries in political shambles, is not good new, when it comes to france, i suspect president macron tonight addressing the nation

live on tv, will most probably announce the name of the next prime minister, who will face exactly the same issues, and the same difficulties as michel barnier. ~ , , , barnier. well, yes, exactly, so what can _ barnier. well, yes, exactly, so what can be — barnier. well, yes, exactly, so what can be done, _ barnier. well, yes, exactly, so what can be done, whose - barnier. well, yes, exactly, so| what can be done, whose name could actually heal these divisions is or at least paper over some of the cracks? well, it's likely _ over some of the cracks? well, it's likely to _ over some of the cracks? well, it's likely to be _ over some of the cracks? well, it's likely to be either _ over some of the cracks? well, it's likely to be either one - over some of the cracks? well, it's likely to be either one of i it's likely to be either one of his close younger ministers, one who has been in charge of defence, eversince one who has been in charge of defence, ever since macron came to power in 2017. so, that is one of the names actually, circulating, it could also be a

centrist figure, it could be a centre—left, but what really matters is that, and it is very interesting since last night, the far right, marine le pen who provoked the upheaval by allowing herself —— allying herself we the far left, which is really unheard of, she is playing it very discreetly this morning and she says, oh, we will not topple another centre—right government, whereas on the far left, which is you know e very radical, they say, oh, we will crush the next government, as long as the next government, as long as the next prime minister is not one of ours. so, you see, the political game is not over, and

what is really very very worrying, is that these are very short political games and the french people on the whole are very worried.— are very worried. christine, we will 'ust are very worried. christine, we willjust show _ are very worried. christine, we willjust show people - are very worried. christine, we willjust show people some - willjust show people some images now of michel barnier arriving a little while ago, just as this was in the past few minute, michel barnier arriving in order to submit his resignation, but picking up on the point you madejust resignation, but picking up on the point you made just now about how worrying this is for the people of france, because thatis the people of france, because that is the point isn't it, all this politicking may well be going on but how much will this actually affect or speak to the issues that are of concern to the public, because if this is about the budget, the economy, then, what, what are the politics going to do to improve thingses for people any france?

well, in very short—term, a law will be passed, so as to ensure that civil servants can be paid ljy that civil servants can be paid by the end of the year, and it is likely that the next prime minister, whatever government can be actually shaped up, in the coming hours, will pass first block of laws, regarding our welfare system, because we have two budget, we have the welfare system budget, and we have the general budget. when it comes to french households, of course, you know, people worry about their own standards of live, and the overall issues are not always very well understood. what is obvious, is that the country's running a huge deficit, and whoever comes to power, they will have to try

and fix it, and that means probably higher taxes, certainly for the most wealthy people, and probably a little bit under, and also, on business. and than is very bad, of course, forforeign of course, for foreign investment of course, forforeign investment in france. of course, for foreign investment in france. well, thank you — investment in france. well, thank you for _ investment in france. well, thank you for that _ investment in france. well, thank you for that analysis, | thank you for that analysis, thatis thank you for that analysis, that is journalist and caster christine 0ckrent. let's speak to our southern europe correspondent mark lowen, who is in paris. we heard about the concerns of the french people as a result of this, given pollism and uncertainty and polarisation isn't unique to france, why has this seemed to have caused france so much turmoil? well, ou are france so much turmoil? well, you are right. _ france so much turmoil? well, you are right, the _ france so much turmoil? well, you are right, the rise - france so much turmoil? well, you are right, the rise of - you are right, the rise of populism and the rise of the far right is something that we are seeing right across the

western world, of course, and france absolutely not immune to that and in fact marine le pen, the leader of the far right national rally is probably the main beneficiary of the turmoil france is going through, she was one of those who led this no confidence motion against michel barnier, and even though she says this morning she is not directly calling for president macron�*s resignation she has been very very forthright in her criticism of the president and says it is he who has led frances to this situation of chaos, rather than those who actually brought the motion of no confidence, such as mrs le pen, i mean the fact of the matter is president macron is the weakest his has been, he is criticised widely on the right and left for leading france into this division, stagnation, he say he is determined to stay, he won't resign, he will see out the rest of his term to 2027. how can he alage —— salvage his

legs psi? i am outside his office where michel barnier, the now outgoing prime minister has arrived to tender his resignation, we expect the president to except it is and he will make a prime time address this evening on national tv, address this evening on nationaltv, possibly address this evening on national tv, possibly to name the new prime minister, the and it will be a race against time, because he has to calm the markets, he has to calm france's french politicians of all different sides whoa are very worried about the instability this country is going through, and all of that at a time when wars are raging europe's doorstep and we are weeks away from donald trump entering the white house. imilli entering the white house. will michel barnier's replacement michel barnier�*s replacement actually solve anything or improve anything, for the voters in france, for the public of france, and for the situation there?— situation there? yes, it is a big question- _ situation there? yes, it is a big question. i— situation there? yes, it is a big question. i mean - situation there? yes, it is a big question. i mean there | situation there? yes, it is a i big question. i mean there will be a new prime minister but the old problems will still remain, france has very high public debt at the moment and the third highest in the european

union, its deficit is twice the level mandated by the european union, and you know, last week france's borrowing costs on the international markets hit those of greece, which was the country which sparked the eurozone debt crisis more than a decade ago, so economically this country is in a mess, you know, it is a very very big economy, it is the eu second largest economy, so it can't fail, and the urgent priority of whoever comes this is to pass a budget for next year for public sector salaries and wages and steady the ship here and provide some level of stability. thank you. we will return to paris as developments continue there, but now... here in the uk, the prime minister, sir keir starmer, is expected to announce that every neighbourhood in england and wales will be given a named, contactable police officer, among efforts to drive down crime and restore faith in the justice system. the proposals are part of a wider attempt by the government to show how it will make improvements

in a range of areas. 0ur correspondent, ben chu, has more. that money is sufficient to recruit round 1200 new police officerings as part of that but officerings as part of that but of course we will be building this, year after year, as we go through the parliament, and thatis through the parliament, and that is the point today, of saying this is a commitment for the parliament to get those neighbourhood police back in our community, where we can see them, because they have gone, and that is why we have seen orring is shoplifting, street crime, that is why too often people say they don't feel safe in town centres any more, we need to turn that round, getting neighbourhood policing into the community will be a crucial part of that. shadow home seceretary chris philp says the announcement is a desperate attempted re—launch for a government that has broken promises on tax. what i understand of their announcement coming later is that they're going to announce 13,000 officers. but when you look

at it, that is again unsurprisingly for this labour government completely dishonest, because only 3,000 of those are actually new. some of them are being transferred from somewhere else, scotland are pcsos with no powers of arrest. so less than a quarter of the officers that keir starmer is going to announce are actually new. and the government are not giving police forces enough money to actually fund those officers — they're telling them to hire them without giving them all of the money needed. let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. because they have gone, and thatis because they have gone, and that is why 1525 00:13:39,0