IF you’ve ever read Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables, as most French schoolchildren have, you’ll know they often end with a harsh but invaluable lesson. In these tales, animals – or sometimes humans – find themselves undone by their own hubris or short-sighted decisions, often with a bitter twist of irony.

The moral of the story is always clear: foolish choices lead to painful consequences.

As we witness the latest political farce unfolding in France, it’s hard not to think we’re living through one of La Fontaine’s fables. The tragedy, of course, is that it is real life.

The French government’s recent attempt to placate the far-right has been a classic case of political hubris, and it is imploding spectacularly. President Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Michel Barnier, having ignored the results of last summer’s elections and the mandate of the electorate, decided to tread a path of appeasement. Their hope was to prevent the far right from turning against them and destabilising the government.

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But their plan has failed miserably. The no-confidence vote, set to take place todayWED, will almost certainly topple Barnier’s government – and they will have no-one to blame but themselves.

Like a house of cards, Barnier’s administration has been precariously balanced since its inception. Without a parliamentary majority, Barnier and Macron needed to negotiate across the political spectrum to secure their survival.

Yet instead of turning to the left – the very coalition that won the snap legislative elections Macron himself called – they opted to tiptoe around the far-right, hoping to keep Marine Le Pen and her party onside. It was an act of desperation that betrayed both political and moral judgment.

The irony is glaring. Macron triggered the elections thinking he could outmanoeuvre a divided left and further consolidate his grip on power. Instead, those elections reshaped the political landscape, leaving his party weakened, the left rejuvenated, and the far-right emboldened.

In response, Macron and Barnier tried to sidestep compromise by offering up concessions to the far-right. The gamble was clear: give the far-right some policy wins to keep them from bringing the government down. But this Faustian bargain was doomed from the start.

The far-right doesn’t deal in goodwill or compromise, they deal in exploitation. And as Barnier is now learning, they will use and discard you the moment it suits them.

The concessions made – such as the removal of the electricity surtax and reforming state medical aid for migrants – have done little to stabilise the government. Instead, they have made Barnier’s administration look weak and opportunistic while giving Le Pen’s party ammunition to position themselves as the real defenders of “the people”.

This situation is more than just a political embarrassment; it’s a masterclass in what not to do. Barnier, who once carried the reputation of a skilled negotiator, has squandered whatever credibility he had left. His government is set to fall, not because of any grand miscalculation by the opposition, but because it placed its faith in the far-right – a force with no interest in constructive governance.

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What makes the entire fiasco even more infuriating is the utter lack of accountability. Instead of admitting their mistakes, Macron, Barnier, and their allies have turned their ire on the left, accusing them of destabilising the government.

This blame-shifting is as dishonest as it is ludicrous. The left did not create this crisis; the government did, through its refusal to engage with the parliamentary plurality voters handed them. Macron’s insistence on governing as though he still held a majority was delusional, and Barnier’s inability to forge meaningful compromise with the left was both arrogant and naïve.

The truth is that this crisis was years in the making. France’s political system has never had a strong culture of compromise. Governments cling to the illusion of absolute power, refusing to work across ideological lines even when their position demands it. Macron and Barnier’s actions are a perfect example of this tendency. They chose to marginalise the left rather than respect the electorate’s mandate, and in doing so, they created a vacuum that the far-right was more than happy to fill.

The far-right’s role in this story cannot be overstated. Le Pen’s party has masterfully exploited the government’s weakness, presenting themselves as the voice of the discontented.

But let’s be clear: they have no intention of addressing the issues that fuel voter frustration. Whether it is wages, housing, or healthcare, the far-right doesn’t care about solving problems, they care about exploiting them. Their strategy is simple: sow division, stoke anger, and push the boundaries of political discourse ever further into dangerous territory.

In this light, the government’s attempts to placate the far-right are not just misguided – they’re dangerous. Every concession Barnier made has only strengthened Le Pen’s hand, allowing her to claim victories that resonate with her base while portraying the government as ineffective. And now, despite all those concessions, the far right is ready to help bring down the very administration that sought their favour. It’s almost laughable, were it not so predictable.

At the heart of this mess is a fundamental misunderstanding of the far-right’s nature. You cannot co-opt their power without losing your own integrity. They will always find a way to turn the tables, to leave you exposed and humiliated. This is the lesson Barnier and Macron are learning the hard way.

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And the worst part? They should have known better.

Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of this debacle is that it could have been avoided. The government could have chosen to engage with the left, to build a coalition that reflected the electorate’s diversity. Instead, they chose the path of least resistance, relying on the far-right’s co-operation to cling to power.

It was a decision born of arrogance and desperation, and it has led to the predictable outcome: a government in tatters, a far-right emboldened, and a country left to pick up the pieces.

So here we are, living through yet another La Fontaine-style tale, where the moral is painfully clear: when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. The far-right is not a partner, it’s a predator. And any government that thinks it can outwit them is doomed to fail.

Barnier’s government is about to fall, and it’s hard to feel much sympathy. But the broader consequences of this failure – greater instability, deeper divisions, and the normalisation of far-right rhetoric – will be felt long after the no-confidence vote. This is the price of appeasement.

And if there’s one lesson we should take away from this fiasco, it’s this: when you put yourself in the hands of the far-right, you end up as their doormat.