内容摘要："Axing half of its senior academics is a dangerous and short-sighted move.

"Axing half of its senior academics is a dangerous and short-sighted move.

Le Pen’s argument is that Barnier didn’t include enough of her demands in his budget, while Barnier said his budget wasn’t “aimed to please” - and he accused her of "trying to get into a kind of bidding war" during their negotiations.The RN leader could end up plunging France “into the great political and financial unknown”, in the words of Le Figaro deputy editor Vincent Trémolet de Villers.

She won’t want to be labelled as the politician who pushed France into economic turbulence when in her eyes it is Macron who is to blame for France’s economic state.“It’s a result of seven years of amateurism and a spectacular drift in our public finances,” she has said.There are plenty of French voters who want Macron gone before his term ends in 2027. Recent polls suggest at least 62% of the electorate think the president should resign if the Barnier government falls.

National Rally would arguably be in line with the broader electorate if it pushed for that, even if Le Pen has not yet done so.But the RN leader has other issues going on behind the scenes which her critics believe might be influencing her judgement.

On 31 March, a French court will rule in a long-running trial against her and other party figures on

Prosecutors want her to go to jail and face a five-year ban in public office.A vote of no-confidence in the government headed by Prime Minister Michel Barnier is

at around 19:00 (18:00 GMT).If - as expected - the vote goes through, the Barnier government will collapse.

Barnier, the former EU Brexit chief negotiator, wasto be prime minister just 90 days ago.