4 h. ago Budget compromise needed if PM ousted, says French finance minister

Éric Lombard says he hopes François Bayrou will survive vote and dismisses talk of looming debt crisisThe French finance minister, Éric Lombard, has said the government would have to compromise on plans to cut the budget deficit if the prime minister, François Bayrou, is toppled in a confidence vote next week.Lombard told the Financial Times that fresh negotiations would require the government to make concessions to the left to reduce the size of the fiscal package if the government falls. Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago French business warns of recession risk as political turmoil deepens

Fiscal discord alarms company chiefs as PM’s confidence-vote gamble rattles markets

Events

5 d. ago Voices: Mon dieu, France – this is no time for un political meltdown!

Next month’s surprise confidence vote could bring down an already crisis-hit minority government, test the country’s governability and end with a drastic power shift – it might also be bad news for Keir Starmer and his coalition of the willing, says Mary Dejevsky

Politics

6 d. ago Russell Martin's Rangers allies dwindle as advisory board demand he is removed from post

The group have joined the list of those issuing a vote of no confidence in the Ibrox boss as the heat continues to grow

Politics

7 d. ago Macron backs Bayrou and calls on budget critics to show responsibility

Spokesperson says government in ‘fighting spirit’ after PM called confidence vote he is expected to loseEmmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to France’s beleaguered prime minister, François Bayrou, who is expected to lose a confidence vote next month, which would be likely to cause the government to collapse.Macron chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as France faces a fresh political crisis. The government spokesperson Sophie Primas said after the meeting that Macron fully supported Bayrou and the government was in a “fighting spirit”. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago France on the brink: how a budget deficit became a political crisis

With the government facing defeat in a confidence vote, the nation’s economic problems will still need to tackledFrance is stuck in economic limbo, without a budget and soon, possibly, without a government. The prime minister, François Bayrou, has called for parliament to hold a confidence vote on 8 September and, now that parties of the left and far right have pledged to bring down the government, on paper he doesn’t have the numbers to win.On Tuesday, the Socialist party (PS) added its voice to the dissenters, allying it with the Greens and the far-right National Rally. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago UK supermarket to create hundreds of jobs after £435m investment

Chancellor Rachel Reeves praised the supermarket chain’s expansion as a ‘vote of confidence’ in the UK

Economics

7 d. ago Lidl to create 500 jobs after £435 million investment in warehouses

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Lidl’s investment in the warehouses in London and Leeds was a ‘vote of confidence’ in the UK.

Economics

8 d. ago France faces new political crisis as PM expected to lose confidence vote

François Bayrou says he will ‘fight like a dog’ to stay in power but he appears almost certain to be toppledFrance is braced for another political crisis as the minority government of François Bayrou appears almost certain to be toppled in a confidence vote next month, amid deep political divisions over an unpopular austerity budget and debt-reduction plan.“I will fight like a dog,” the centrist prime minister told L’Express on Tuesday after his surprise decision to call a vote of confidence from parliamentarians. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Bayrou risks French premiership in confidence vote next month

Far-right opposition vows to topple premier for second time in a year over unpopular efforts to curb public spending

Politics