"If the socialist MPs do not vote for these motions of no confidence, they will confirm a change of alliance that we have been foreseeing for a long time now," said the leader of the La France Insoumise (LFI) MPs Mathilde Panot during a press briefing at the National Assembly, the day after Prime minister François Bayrou triggered the first 49.3 motions of his government (article 49.3 of the French constitution allows the government to pass laws without a vote). The prime minister's job appeared on the line at the start of the week as he prepared to use constitutional power to force through budget legislation without a vote in parliament. But he appears safe in his position for now after the Socialist Party on Monday said they would not vote to topple his cabinet over the unpopular law. SOUNDBITE