France faces another risk of governmental collapse this week after the prime minister declared he will push through the budget without putting it to a parliamentary vote.

François Bayrou announced on Saturday that he will trigger Article 49.3 – a constitutional tool often described as the “nuclear option” – to force his budget through the National Assembly.

The move allows a government to pass a bill without putting it to a vote in the lower house of parliament.

“Now we must move on to adoption without delay. A country like ours cannot remain without a budget,” Mr Bayrou told La Tribune Dimanche.

But the hard-Left party France Unbowed has warned the government that it plans to file a motion of no confidence, which also brought about the fall of the previous government under Michel Barnier.

Mr Barnier was forced to resign after he too had to resort to using Article 49.3 and then suffered a no confidence vote in December after just three months in office. He became the shortest-serving prime minister in the Fifth Republic.