France’s PM wants to scrap two public holidays to help fix public finances

French Prime Minister François Bayrou proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of a 43.8 billion euro budget squeeze outlined on Tuesday, even as opposition parties threaten to topple his minority government. President Emmanuel Macron has left Bayrou the task of repairing the public finances with the 2026 budget, after his own move to call a snap legislative election last year delivered a hung parliament too divided to tackle the country’s spiralling spending and a surprise tax shortfall.