No-Confidence Vote In Macron's Government Amid Pensions Fury

The French government will today face a no-confidence vote after MPs said they feared for their safety, strike action intensified and police banned demonstrators from parts of central Paris following Emmanuel Macron's decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a vote in parliament.

- Angelique Chrisafis

Opposition politicians have filed two no-confidence motions in protest at the government using controversial executive powers to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64.

The French president decided last week that the government should use article 49.3 of the constitution to bypass parliament, because he feared. it could not garner enough votes for the pension changes.

After two months of protests against the pension changes and on-off strikes headed by a rare united front of all trade unions, anger continued to mount during the weekend, with demonstrations in many towns. More rail, air and school strikes are planned over the next week.

The two no-confidence motions are seen as unlikely to pass, as they would require an unprecedented grouping of all the warring opposition parties.