The last time the National Assembly brought down a government was in 1962. “The French will not forgive us if we put individual interests before that of the nation,” Mr Barnier pleaded to deputies in the chamber.

France's centre-right government is facing the threat of being overthrown by the opposition in a dispute over an austerity budget. The left-wing alliance in the National Assembly has submitted a motion of no confidence against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

France’s major far-right party is ready to take down Michel Barnier’s government after he declined to meet all of their demands for next year’s budget. The breakdown was sparked by a move by Barnier to use a constitutional mechanism that allows for the adoption of the social security bill without a vote.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Monday opted to push through a contested budget bill without a vote in parliament.

Michel Barnier tells MPs they face a ‘moment of truth’ after both the left and the far right lodge motions to bring down the government

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is bracing for a no-confidence vote this week, a political reckoning poised to topple his fragile government and send shockwaves across the eurozone.

Barnier warned that toppling the government could cause a "big storm and very serious turbulence" in financial markets. Some analysts believe that France is heading for a debt crisis reminiscent of the near implosion of the eurozone in 2012, when Greece was forced to seek a bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has invoked a special constitutional tool to push through the controversial 2025 austerity budget without a parliamentary vote

France’s minority government may be on its last legs as opposition lawmakers move this week toward a no-confidence vote.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has used special powers to push through a social security budget bill without a vote by MPs, in a move expected to trigger vote of no confidence in government. Opposition parties are now set to trigger that vote - which could take place as early as Wednesday - and which Barnier's minority government is unlikely

To survive the vote in the fractured lower house, Barnier needs Marine Le Pen's party to abstain, otherwise his government and the budget bill could fall, plunging France into a political crisis.