michel barnier only did three, orso. so michel barnier only did three, or so.have to remember that it is the sixth prime minister under emmanuel macron. it is number fourjust for this year alone. so this is going to be almost as life expectancy as prime minister is going to be very, very tricky. but we also have to remember that this is almost a dream job of francois bayrou. he's been waiting for this for all of his career, trying to get a coalition with somebody who could get the presidency so he could be french prime minister and this is his opportunity, this is what he could have dreamt of because he knows that he can't do that presidency run himself. we can see here. _ presidency run himself. we can see here, this _ presidency run himself. we can see here, this is _ presidency run himself. we can see here, this is the _ presidency run himself. we can see here, this is the scene - see here, this is the scene inside the presidential palace inside the presidential palace in paris. the red carpet rolled out for the transfer of power. no sign of anybody on that

barnier was trying to net his happen? barnier was trying to get his budget _ happen?pen? barnier was trying to get his budget through, it - get his budget through, it wasn't, i wouldn't call it an austerity budget, but it is true the fiscal position of france is no doubt the deficit for 2024 is represents more than 6% of the gdp and he wanted to get it back to 5% of the gdp next year, with measures, and the european commission was supporting this, but of course it is meant more tax increases and decreasing public spending which any of the left orfar public spending which any of the left or far right parties wanted, and so what happens next, is that if he is dismissed and the government is toppled ehave to go to the elysee to present his resignation and macron can of course theoretically reappoint him but that would be meaningless because he would face the same lack of any majority, but there are questions whether macron would turn a bit more to the left, trying to get the socialists out of their alliance with the far left and support some union with a centre and liber

than michel barnier of getting uni ? ., . , unity? you are right, but michel barnier _ unity?duced as the one who would be the linking — as the one who would be the linking point between several groups — linking point between several groups and he was supposed to be groups and he was supposed to he the — groups and he was supposed to be the solution, and you can see — be the solution, and you can see where _ be the solution, and you can see where that led, he was toppled _ see where that led, he was toppled injust three months, and this— toppled injust three months, and this is extraordinary, not and this is extraordinary, not an ordinary political situation. what else is there to do— situation. what else is there to do but— situation. what else is there to do but respect the voice of the people? but to do but respect the voice of the people?— the people? but on your programme. _ the people? but on your programme, your- the people? but on your programme, your partyl the people? but on your - programme, your party supports lowering the retirement age and increasing the minimum

-- michel barnier.e talked about how this is the fall of michel barnier's government, but emmanuel macron is behind the scenes because he is the one who called the snap election and appointed michel barnier as prime minister. he has been in saudi arabia and is making his way back. what has been his role in all of this? caroline: i mean, he has come as you said, the one who called the snap elections on july 9 after he lost the european elections. since then, the political uncertainty in france has been going on. there has been no relief on the bond market, there has not been much relief on the equities market either since the snap elections in july, and he took two months to name michel barnier as prime minister, and three months later he might become the shortest-lived by of the french republic since 1958. as we speak, we are still one and half hours from final vote. there is still some debate. we are waiting to hear from the former prime minister gabriel attal, who hasn't spoken yet. interestingly, gab

translation: j support for it michel barnier. translation:— support for it michel barnier. translation: i remember what was said on _ translation: i remember what was said on the _ translation: i remember what was said on the left _ translation: i remember what was said on the left banks, - translation: i remember what was said on the left banks, the l was said on the left banks, the left benches. _ was said on the left banks, the left benches. so— was said on the left banks, the left benches. so a _ was said on the left banks, the left benches. so a few - was said on the left banks, the left benches. so a few months| left benches. so a few months ago. _ left benches. so a few months ago. you — left benches. so a few months ago. you said _ left benches. so a few months ago, you said no, _ left benches. so a few months ago, you said no, never- left benches. so a few months ago, you said no, never with. ago, you said no, neverwith the — ago, you said no, neverwith the national— ago, you said no, neverwith the national front. - ago, you said no, neverwith the national front. a

vote. >> reporter: no, this could be the very final hours of the barnier government. this vote of no confidence happening at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon -- debates at 4:00 p.m., then the vote will have happened and maybe the barnier government will be ousted barely three months after taking office. in the background was the question of the budget, the negotiations between the different parties, because of course the national assembly is extremely fragmented. they had to make some concessions, particularly with the far right. that didn't seem to work out and the left-wing bloc and far-right both agree on voting for this vote of no confidence and tapling barnier's government. a bit of a jump into the unknown, who could be the next prime minister? how can they tackle the difficult question of the deficit in particular that is expected above 6% this year? they have to try to bring it back toward the 3% limit at some point. this overall picture in the background as to what the result might be, i have a special guest to discuss all this. marian allier, thank you for joining us

that is what has happened with michel barnier.ent has fallen and there are big questions of her with her friends will be able to approve a budget next year. it has a very high deficit and high debt at the moment. big questions over france 's political stability in the european context because of the moment, europe is facing wars on its doorstep with ukraine in the middle east, trumpet, back to the white house in less than seven weeks which is a time where europe will be called to step up and provide a counterbalance to america. yet france , the european union's second st powerful country, has been thrown into a massive political crisis. from the bbc, one of my colleagues also from france, car, please remind audiences why this is happening. >> this is truly a historic day, really, as you said. and the main reason is -- we go back to -- [inaudible] christian: mark, we may have to come back to you because you having problems with the microphone. with me to discuss further what has happened tonight, an honorary member of parliament an

why do you think we saw michel barnier fall?because of the budget bill he pushed past the national assembly? >> it was a symptom, not the broad cause. the broader cause was the huge political division in france, which came to the forefront when there were three fairly evenly sized factions within french parliament, the left, the center and the far right. none of whom form a majority or could work together. barnier was doomed to fail from the start because he had a minority government. it was not surprising he felt obliged to push his budget through using the constitutional mechanism that allows them to bypass parliament because the left said they couldn't support it because it made too many concessions to the far right, the far-right said it made too many concessions to the left so when trying to compromise there was no solution in sight. now both sides are trying to use the opportunity to make ends even more difficult for macron. >> what will macron do next? >> appointing michel barnier took him two months and he says he can't

in september and barnier in september and barnier himself at that time said he did not expect to last hearing that he lasted for three months. ultimately, what it means is we have fallen back into a period of chaos that france knew anyway around about the june— france knew anyway around about thejune— july france knew anyway around about the june— july period with france knew anyway around about thejune— july period with the snap election and suddenly this parliament being formed with three blocks and as we go back to that time we then had the caretaker government over the summer and it took president macron two months to then appoint michel barnier. the situation currently means that, once again, the country is without a government and clearly no clear signs as to who really could come in to replace barnier and bring about the stability that the country as needed with compromise and concession that is required on all sides. as we were hearing there in reports as well, the sense of frustration on the streets and from the general population in france. if you are quite disconnected in p

again, you have seen concessions of the barnier government to the far right.e know the kingmakers are the top in the national assembly. the far right supported the barnier government. it looks like all this is coming to an end. we saw the concession on electricity that was scrapped. yesterday, in the final hours just before that appearance in the national assembly, the government announcing a new concession with another red line for the far right which was reimbursement on drugs. they said they would scrub this as well. even the barnier government thought they had enough concessions to bring up the far right. they have the two parties playing the bluff game between each other. then barnier calling the government pushing through the bill without a vote and triggering a vote of no confidence and the far right coming out saying they would support a no confidence vote triggered by the left. you have the lines with the far left and far right ing this barnier government that could happen tomorrow or thursday morning. that brings forward an unknown window. emmanuel m

we said that michel barnier is caught between both sides.cult to please the opposition parties in the markets. what happens your? figs markets. what happens your? as we markets. what happens your? sis we see markets. what happens your? is we see the french government debt has become too high. the french fiscal tips —— deficit have been .6%. they have to save money somewhere and michel barnier has come up with a plan to raise taxes and cut a little bit on spending. remember that he wanted to reach the european target deficit of 3% of gdp by 2028 - 2029 target deficit of 3% of gdp by 2028 — 2029 services mild. but we have political games being played here. this is what we see from the left and right sides, they are trying to use this occasion to bring down the government.— this occasion to bring down the government. , . ., , , ., government. yes and as you say, the are government. yes and as you say, they are expected _ government. yes and as you say, they are expected to _ government. yes and as you say, they are expected to trigger - governme

we have a government under a michel barnier which represents the centre, but it has always been theref the two other blocks to come together and bring him down. bring penn, who has backed down for all this time, and does not pushed her opposition into a kind of outright challenge is now saying she will do that, and the point of issue is this budget. michel barnier has spent the last few months, basically as all time in office, drawing up this budget. the bit that matters is the holding that looks like it will fall apart. ii holding that looks like it will fall a art. holding that looks like it will fall apart-— fall apart. if it goes exactly as ou fall apart. if it goes exactly as you have _ fall apart. if it goes exactly as you have described, - fall apart. if it goes exactly. as you have described, what happens next? we have a new prime minister foot forward, do we have new elections? what is the most likely cause of action. . . . the most likely cause of action. , ., , , action. there is a big problem, which is that _ action. there is a big problem, which is that there _ action. th

it seems inevitable that michel barnier�*s government will follow. that michel barnier's government willvernment will follow. 0k, we'll come back _ government will follow. 0k, we'll come back to - government will follow. 0k, we'll come back to any - we'll come back to any potential miracles in a moment, but let's work on that assumption that does happen, so where does that leave the government of france? well, in the short term, _ government of france? well, in the short term, the _ government of france? well, in the short term, the current - the short term, the current government will probably be asked by president one to stay on as a caretaker administration, but what it means is this belt tightening budget you referred to, which the government says is essential to tackle france's colossal debt and deficit will not go through. so in that case, the current budget will remain in force. michel barnier, the prime minister, says that will be catastrophic for france's fragile public finances. forthe for france's fragile public finances. for the time being, at least, president macron remains

and, his cabinet, now barnier must tender his resignation to french president macron. it is the first time a prime minister has been ousted like this since 1962. what a turn around from a couple months ago. >> reporter: that's absolutely, that's right. only three months ago, the french prime minister was appointed by macron, and three months later he's ousted, making essentially his government the shortest lived in french history. that didn't really come as much of a surprise. because, since he was appointed in september by macron, barnier had to deal not only with a very fractured, divided government where there was no real majority, very difficult to govern, but with widespread discontent about several issues, migration, rising inflation, but, in the end, it was the budget deficit that did it for barnier. i propos billions of dollars in spending cuts, billions of dollars in tax increases, and that united, essentially, the usually-divided opposition parties from the left and from the right against barnier. now, as you mentioned, barnier will have to tender his resigna

the fresh political turmoil follows the decision by mr barnier, to force through an austerity budgetval of parliament. the no confidence motion is supported by the majority of mps from across the political divide. our correspondent hugh schofield is in bordeaux. he appeared on television last night to give his side of all of this. but there was no concession, there was no indication of any movement. and so, as things stand, there is no question what's going to happen. he's going to be ousted. notwithstanding the fact that they could be still a change in the course of the day. until it's voted, it's not voted. what the optimists at least in his entourage are saying is that, hang on, let's wait. there could be a phone call between him and marine le pen during the day. he could give, on this last issue, which marine le pen is demanding of him, which is to do with pensions and the indexation of pensions, linking them with inflation and so on, that was a red line that she had given him to budget, and that's why she's now saying she's going to vote against him at this key vote this afterno

barnier is a scapegoat of the parliament.t's going to be very difficult for macron to support somebody to come up with somebody who is able to manage this difficult situation. >> what probably reassures markets to some extent right now is there is not going to be anything like a government shutdown in france. the parties which voted against the government said they would vote for the special rule that will normally allow us to rollover the budget for next year. there is no immediate threat, i would say. there is no really questions about france's debt uss sdan sustainability. there is an issue of the quality of bonds france will have in the years ahead. >> charlotte joins us now live interest from paris. i guess all eyes on president macron. >> reporter: yes, we know michel barnier is on the way to tender the letter of resignation of his government. that would be the time for president macron to pick his successor. that would be the fourth prime minister under macron this year. a bit instability. opening the door to the unkno

"we'll be entering unknown territory," said barnier.mmediate answer from marine le pen was, "bring it on." the leader of the hard—right national rally said her party would vote to get rid of the current government. "the french have had enough," she said. "things have gone from bad to worse." france is in a financial pickle, with soaring debt. trouble here could spread throughout europe. but the crisis is, at heart, political, sparked by this summer's elections, which resulted in a spectacularly gridlocked parliament, unable to agree on anything. marine le pen wants to be france's next president, and she holds some strong cards right now. she's gambling that any fresh chaos here will be blamed on this man, not her — president emmanuel macron. arriving in saudi arabia tonight, he's never looked so politically fragile. he may cling on to power, but his promise to strengthen the centre ground of french politics is in trouble. andrew harding, bbc news, paris. let's speak to eleonora pasotti, professor of politics at the university of califor

the government has been teetering on the brink of collapse since monday — when mr barnier forced throughsterity budget�*, without allowing mps to vote. the no confidence motion is supported by the majority of mps from across the political divide. finds that britain is used by russian money laundering networks to help organised criminals around the world. and the inscrutable face of fashion. anna wintour gives a rare interview, from behind her famous sunglasses. well, they help me see, and they help me not see, and they help me be seen and not be seen, so they are a prop. let's start in france — where for the last hour the french parliament has been holding a no—confidence debate — which is expected to oust the prime minister, michel barnier, after, just three months in office. the government has been teetering on the brink of collapse since monday — when mr barnier forced through an �*austerity budget�*, without allowing mps to vote. elections that were won by the parliamentary left. they didn�*t get enough of a majority. president macron said there was going to be apparent from the left

in france, president macron vows to name a nearby minister within days after michel barnier was oustedno confidence vote. —— a new prime minister. hello, i'm rajini vaidynathan. tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria's third largest city homs in fear that islamist—led rebels will press on with their advance, with one war monitor saying they are already just five kilometres outside. the rebels seized hama to the north yesterday — the second major blow to president bashar al assad, who lost control of the strategic city of aleppo last week. this footage shows rebels, entering the city — apparently unopposed. the un says fighting has displaced more than 280,000 people in the north—west of the country. the united nations secretary general, antonio guterres, called the reignited war a collective failure of the international community. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is monitoring the situation from beirut. well, rajini, what we've got is a statement by the rebel operations centre saying that they have advanced quite significantly from hama. they have passed through two main tow

and the point at issue is this is this budget barnier�*s spent the last three months basically spentgislation that matters that comes before the house and the whole thing looks like it's going to fall, fall apart. so, hugh, in terms of if it goes exactly as you've described, what happens next? do we have a new prime minister put forward? do we have new elections? what is the most likely course of action? well, there's a big problem in all of this, which is that there can be no new elections until nextjuly, because the constitution says there has to be a year between votes. so, no, that that is ruled out. so whatever happens will have the same kind of badly functioning upper chamber or chamber, the national assembly. or the national assembly. what will happen is probably that michel barnier will be asked by the president macron to stay in office simply to sign cheques and keep things going while he goes about the task once again of trying to find a prime minister. and if you remember, back in september, august, september, that was what we were reporting on for week after week, and he

"we'll be entering unknown territory," said barnier. hard—right national rally said her party would vote to get rid of the current government. "the french have had enough," she said. "things have gone from bad to worse." france is in a financial pickle, with soaring debt. trouble here could spread throughout europe. but the crisis is, at heart, political, sparked by this summer's elections, which resulted in a spectacularly gridlocked parliament, unable to agree on anything. "marine le pen wants to be france's next president, and she holds some strong cards right now." she's gambling that any fresh chaos here will be blamed on this man, not her — president emmanuel macron. arriving in saudi arabia tonight, he's never looked so politically fragile. he may cling on to power, but his promise to strengthen the centre ground of french politics is in trouble. andrew harding, bbc news, paris. in london, the holiday season is in the air. trafalgar square's christmas tree comes from norway every year. it's a tradition started in 19117 to recogni

prime minister michel barnier was ousted late on wednesday evening after members of parliament unitedo support a no—confidence motion. that toppled the government, and makes mr barnier the shortest—serving prime minister in french history. our paris correspondent andrew harding has the story. moments before the voting began here in paris tonight, michel barnier made a final, ratherforlorn, plea to french mps. the prime minister urged them to back him and his government and his budget, or create chaos. translation: ican't- believe a majority of mps here will vote to destabilise our institutions at a moment where our country is going through a deep moral, economic, financial and civic crisis. but the answer came back fast and conclusive. the speaker of parliament revealing that 57% of mps had voted no confidence in the government, politicians from the hard right and hard left of french politics briefly uniting on this one issue. translation: idon't| feel my head spinning, and i don't consider this a victory. we had a choice to make, and the choice we made was to protect french people. h

is the barnier government then living its last few hours? is collapse imminent now for this french government? >> it seems that the collapse of this government is almost inevitable if the national rally joins forces with the left-wing alliance because they will have a majority to support this vote of no-confidence, which should happen by wednesday night or thursday morning. he might be the shortest lived prime minister of the french fifth republic since world war ii and it does not seem like there's any way out unless it does manage to get two thirds of the socialists to abstain from this vote of no-confidence but at the moment the socialists have said they would also support it so it does seem that the collapse is inevitable and until the last minute michel barnier tried to respond to the request of marine le pen in the middle of the afternoon on monday and in fact the markets rebounded when he announced he was giving up on reducing drug reimburse by marine le pen but she said that was not enough and at the last minute wanted to add an amen

kailey: michel barnier is out.uel macron naming a centrist, leader of the democratic movement party, franÇoise, do you have a new face. they will face the same issues. joe: it emerged this morning franÇoise bayrou. following the no-confidence vote, a professor of french studies at george washington university, catherine thanks for joining. what does this mean? >> thank you for having me. this is an interesting and predictable choice. if you asked me who would be my top guests, i would say have said franÇoise bayrou. he is a political animal. he has known michel barnier for 40 years and reference to that in his introductory speech today. french people remember him primarily for his 2007 presidential run. he lost. but he was a very important third-party candidate. he has been a leader of one of the main centrist, slightly right parties for decades. he was an early advocate of emmanuel macron, joining his team as early as february '17. he was one of emmanuel macron's initial ministers in '17, minister of justice. he w

— austerity budget because michel barnier had to find ways to cut budgets — barnier had to find waysbudgets in many different fields_ budgets in many different fields so we took a bit of money— fields so we took a bit of money in the climate budget, in the hospital budget, in many places— the hospital budget, in many places and that's why there were — places and that's why there were so_ places and that's why there were so many people were angry, but the _ were so many people were angry, hut the risk— were so many people were angry, but the risk of course is to have — but the risk of course is to have higher debt if we keep going — have higher debt if we keep going with the budget we had in 2025 _ going with the budget we had in 2025 so— going with the budget we had in 2023. so now we have no measures any more, and we have to start _ measures any more, and we have to start everything again, but this budget was also, the risk right— this budget was also, the risk right now— this budget was also, the risk right now for french people is that— right now for french people is that everyone

the french prime minister, michel barnier, has used a special procedure to force his controversial socialurity budget through without a vote in parliament. he says it's needed in order to reign in the spiralling government deficit. the use of that parliamentary loophole triggers a vote of confidence — and both the hard right and left wing parties say they will vote against mr barnier. barring a last—minute surprise, barnier�*s fragile coalition will be the first french government to be forced out by a no—confidence vote since 1962. the markets have taken fright, stocks have fallen and the interest on government debt is up. earlier,| spoke to our paris correspondent andrew harding and asked him how the french government had reached this point. on the face of it, this is an argument over the economy, over the budget, the fact that france is heavily in debt and needs to cut its spending and increase its income, if it's to fit with eu rules, and also just to stabilise things here in the country. but fundamentally, this is a political crisis, a power struggle that has been building for months

michel barnier has resigned as prime minster of france after only three months in office.resident macron is due to address the nation this evening. "country first, party second" — prime minister keir starmer unveils his �*plan for change�*, setting out pledges on extra police officers, more housebuilding and fixing the health system. hello, i'm ben brown. let's bring you some significant developments from syria — where islamist rebels have made another breakthrough in their surprise offensive against the goverment and seized a second major city — hama. this footage shows rebels, entering the city — apparently unopposed. you can see rebels riding through the near—empty streets and being welcomed by cheering local people. the rebels then turn the cameras round and film themselves celebrating. the syrian army says it has now withdrawn its forces from hama — effectively ceding control there to the rebels. the rebel campaign to seize the city began just two days ago and comes after their suprise capture of aleppo last week, which reignited the war in syria. the syrian army says

"we'll be entering unknown territory," said barnier. on."

barnier lost a no-confince vote on wednesday. macron has asked him to stay on in a caretaker capacity while his successor is chosen. he began by thanking him for his dedication and his unwillingness to give up. he blamed the extreme right and extreme left for yesterday's unprecedented no-confidence vote against him. >> parliament voted no-confidence in the government, despite all concessions made by the prime minister to the parliamentary group. the extreme right and the extreme left joined in an antirepublican front and because the forces governing french yesterday -- i know some people want to point a finger at me. it's a lot easier. i've always accepted my responsibility. whether there were mistakes our successes, but i've never taken on the responsibility of non-parliamentarians who have decided to bring down the government and budget a few days before christmas. we have to set our ambitions high for france. we cannot allow ourselves to be divided or static. ben: that was mr. macron speaking a little earlier. let's take you l

some could say you could even inaudible rename michel barnier.that precludes them from doing so. inaudible some members like the minister of the army on the left side to enlarge the coalition because what is the problem? in fact, it is not that i term controls the parliament, it is the centrists cannot agree with the socialist not to topple the government, so if socialists could tacitly support the current group, perhaps we could have some functioning of the government, perhaps before new, fresh elections injuly government, perhaps before new, fresh elections in july 2024. thank you again for talking us again so early in paris. just to say on bbc news we will be across the day's developments in france as the day unfolds. here in the uk, three english rail operators will be renationalised by labour next year after it passed a law allowing it to do so. south western railways will be the first to renationalise in may next year, followed by c2c injuly, and greater anglia towards the end of the year, the transport department has confirmed. let's discu

the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier.all, 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. in the meantime, president macron will address the nation this evening. he's also expected to appoint a new prime minister quickly, not least because president—elect trump is due in paris this weekend for the opening of the notre dame cathedral.

the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier.n 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. in the meantime, president macron will address the nation this evening. he's also expected to appoint a new prime minister quickly, not least because president—elect trump is due in paris this weekend for the opening of the notre dame cathedral. our paris correspondent andrew harding reports. moments before the voting began here in paris tonight, michel barnier made a final, ratherforlorn, plea to french mps. the prime minister urged them to back him and his government and his budget, or create chaos. translation: ican't- believe a majority of mps here will vote to destabilise our institutions at a moment where our country is going through a deep moral, economic, financial and civic crisis. but the answer came back

the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier.e 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. in the meantime, president macron will address the nation on thursday evening. he�*s also expected to appoint a new prime minister quickly, not least because president—elect trump is due in paris this weekend for the opening of the notre dame cathedral. our paris correspondent andrew harding reports. moments before the voting began here in paris tonight, michel barnier made a final rather forlorn mp to french mps. the prime minister urged them to back him and his government and his budget, or create chaos. translation: ican't- believe a majority of mps

president macron says he'll name a new french prime minister within days — after michel barnier was oustedno—confidence vote. network rail says train services are now improving — after a fault with a communication system caused delays across the uk rail network. hello, i'm ben brown. welcome to bbc news now — three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria's third biggest city homs — fearing that islamist—led rebels will capture in the latest stage of their surprise offensive. the rebel advance has been as rapid as it has been unexpected. first they seized aleppo in the north — which saw fierce fighting during the syrian uprising against the assad regime, which began more than a decade ago. they then moved south and seized control of hama this week, with government forces beating a hasty retreat. now, the rebels are pushing towards the capital damascus. they're reported to have captured the settlements of rastan and talbiseh — and are currently said to be just five kilometres — that's three miles — from the outskirts of homs. if they

mr barnier lacks a majority and his social security budget is widely opposed within parliament. seats in parliament — is trying to force the government into making concessions. if the budget is rejected, it could lead to the collapse of the government within days. let's speak to our correspondent in paris, hugh schofield. what do some of these politicians have issue with, when it comes to the budget? it is a complicated bit of legislation. there are two texts, the social security budget and the main budget. what we can say for certain is that marine le pen has been chivvying away at michel barnier, to get them to take away measures that she says are unacceptable mainly taxes for the middle class and the poor, and he is giving way, he has removed a higher tax it was going to put on electricity for example and we have heard this morning that he has also removed a measure, that would have made it necessary for people to pay a little bit more for medicines. he is going to diminish the reimbursement on a number of key medicines. that was a demand of hers. so, right down to the wire,

president macron says he'll name a new french prime minister within days, after michel barnier was oustedn a no—confidence vote. the uk met office says extreme winds of up to 90mph could put lives at risk. hello, i'm ben brown, welcome to bbc news now, welcome to bbc news now. tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria's third biggest city homs, fearing that islamist—led rebels will capture it in the latest stage of their surprise offensive. the rebel advance southwards has been as rapid as it has been unexpected with as many as 280,000 people displaced in little over a week. first the rebels seized aleppo in the north, forces beat a retreat, they took hama and now they're reported to be just five kilometres from the outskirts of homs. if they can capture the country's third city, the rebels could cut off the main road leading from damascus to the syrian coast. this footage shows how the rebels — seen here in hama — have been advancing almost unopposed into key syrian cities, although the government of bashar al—assad says it has been launching air strikes against them. the syrian conf

the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier.downfall, is now defunct. france has been plagued by political uncertainty since the summer election resulted in a hung parliament,

this was the moment michel barnier declared that he would haggle no more. je parle... france's ice—cool prime minister telling mps that he was forcing through a strict new national budget, and they could either back him or vote him out of office — in which case, he warned — to the sound of heckles — france could plunge into financial turmoil. "we'll be entering unknown territory," said barnier. en territoire inconnu. but the immediate answer from marine le pen was "bring it on". the leader of the hard—right national rally said her party would vote to get rid of the current government. "the french have had enough," she said. "things have gone from bad to worse." france is in a financial pickle, with soaring debt. trouble here could spread throughout europe. but the crisis is, at heart, political — sparked by this summer's elections, which resulted in a spectacularly gridlocked parliament, unable to agree on anything. marine le pen wants to be france's next president, and she holds some strong cards right now. she's gambling that any fresh chaos here will be

the move comes after barnier attempted on monday to ram through part of his government's budget for 2025which included measures to fill the large hole in france's public finances and bring the deficit back in line with european union rules by the end of the decade. some of the measures are hugely unpopular with opposition parties, such as delaying matching pension increases to inflation. let's speak now to andrew kenningham, chief europe economist at capital economics. thank you forjoining us. in terms of why mr barnier is trying to push this through, he sees this as imperative to solving france's financial problems, is that the case, is this budget the solution to all their economic woes? i this budget the solution to all their economic woes?- their economic woes? i think there is no — their economic woes? i think there is no doubt _ their economic woes? i think there is no doubt that - their economic woes? i thinki there is no doubt that france needs to tighten its fiscal policy, reduce its deficit. it turned out the deficit is going to be much larger this year than originally expected

perhaps this could be the way out for michel barnier. >> excellent with that exclusive. it could be a make or break week for this french government. let's bring in bloomberg's strategist and details in reaction. we got to a spread of french over german debt last week what do you expect the market reaction to be to the development we have seen out of paris over the last 48 hours? >> bond traders think it is an early christmas present. they low volatility when it's created by the bond market and what is interesting now for them is that french yields are already above portuguese yields and they are putting in that now so it's an all-around play. they are under per no longer just about what's happening with germany and that gives added fuel to any downside bets so traders are pretty excited. they see some negative news coming out of france so will be taken to the wire. plenty of chances for them to use the futures market which is maybe a little bit less liquid than usual. so we will be looking at that. we have not seen that since the debt crisis. bond traders are pretty 100

tried to do. . ~' , ., what michel barnier tried to do. ., ,, , ., , do.ch, there is _ do. pierre, thank you very much, there is so - do. pierre, thank you very much, there is so much i do. pierre, thank you very i much, there is so much and do. pierre, thank you very - much, there is so much and he's generally amongst the public and it will be absolutely fascinated watching what happens in the next few weeks. in about 30 minutes' time, we actually have the transfer of power from the previous actually have the transfer of powerfrom the previous prime minister to the next prime minister, we will show you those live pictures and comments just as soon as it happens in paris. we will have more of today's headlines here in just a more of today's headlines here injust a moment more of today's headlines here in just a moment or two, more of today's headlines here injust a moment or two, don't go away. hello. in many places, it has turned into another one of these grey, murky, damp and drizzly days. there is a change on the way for the start of the weekend. this w

i'm live outside the french parliament, where barring a last—minute surprise, michel barnier is likelyimpeachment proceedings against the president after overturning his declaration of martial law. and the inscrutable face of fashion — anna wintour gives a rare interview from behind her famous sunglasses. well, they help me see, and they help me not see. and they help me be seen and not be seen, so they're a prop. welcome to bbc news. let's start in france, where for the last hour, the french parliament has been holding a no confidence debate which is expected to oust the prime minister, michel barnier, afterjust three months in office. the government has been teetering on the brink of collapse since monday, when mr barnier forced through an "austerity budget" without allowing mps to vote.

michel barnier, describes this case is a watershed michel barnier, describes this case is avenue.hedcribes this case is avenue ond michel barnier, describes this case is avenue on in september, here in avenue on in september, she was an ordinary mother, grandmother, she was basically anonymous. and today when she left court, she was a feminist icon. she had become a symbol of something that she never wanted become a symbol of in the first place so the dignity with which she carried that task, or dignity, her pores, that was really incredible. looking ahead, it's made a big difference in the way french society views _ society views itself. i think so. it society views itself. i think s0- it will— society views itself. i think so. it will take _ society views itself. i think so. it will take time - society views itself. i think so. it will take time for - society views itself. i think| so. it will take time for the dust to been said everything that has been said and has happened over the last few months, but as giselle herself said, one victim herself said, it one victim that one morni

that is what has happened to barnier.france will be able to approve a budget for next year. it has a very high deficit and debt at the moment. the question is over france's security. europe is facing more and there's don from going back to the white house, a time when europe will be called to step up and provide a... and yet france. the european union's second most powerful country has just been thrown into a massive political crisis... one of my colleagues who is also from france, just remind our audiences why this happening. is a historic day. the main reason is we got back to... taste reason is we got back to. .. we mi . ht reason is we got back to. .. we might need — reason is we got back to. .. we might need to _ reason is we got back to... we might need to come back to you because we are having some problems with the microphone. with me to discuss a little farther joining me now is jacques myard, honorary member of parliament and former publical member in the national assembly. and emmanuelle auriol, professor of ec

i think barnier last ed 90 days.t's fascinating you mentioned the presidential election and maybe we bring it forward. this has been typified as the domestic wrangling. the president created this problem in many ways. what i don't understand is how a leftist or rightist or centrist can change the dynamic and math in the national assembly. ergo, is france vulnerable at the moment? >> yes, i think in a sense you could say france is not governable and, indeed, that's why i'm not expecting much progress on the budget. really minimal, really the minimum to be able to go through, but i think the parliament is divided. people say divided into three parts. the center party, let's say macron, the left and then the right. i think at the moment, it is more divided into two parts. those who want early elections and early elections mean like in 2025. so, you know, to push again this government to fall in order to hope that macron will have to step down. i think it's probably true that if this government was going to last not more