Why is France in chaos again?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As French Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly, a grassroots protest movement is gathering steam with its rallying cry to "Block everything" on September 10. Organisers hope to bring the country to a standstill to protest against Bayrou’s national budget plan – even though the current government is likely to fall before the demonstrations begin. So is the French government on the brink of collapse again?
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Guest: Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times
Host: Luke Jones
Producers: Edith Rousselot and Hannah Varrall
Read more: France heading for ‘Liz Truss-style catastrophe’, warns PM
Clips: DW News, Sky News, France 24, BBC News.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 1:03.8 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 1:07.5 | I'm Luke Jones. |
| 1:17.5 | Today in Paris, a metaphorical political guillotine is being dusted off yet again. The current Prime Minister, President Emmanuel Macron's sixth, |
| 1:23.6 | is facing a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly after quite the uproar over his proposed budget. |
| 1:30.5 | If you're thinking to yourself, isn't that exactly what happened at the end of last year? |
| 1:35.9 | Then yes, you're right, it did. |
| 1:39.3 | Why? |
| 1:40.6 | Well, our man in France will explain. |
| 1:44.6 | The story today is France's government on the brink of collapse again. |
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