French PM gambles on crucial social security vote

France's social security budget faces a knife-edge vote on Tuesday that could trigger a fresh political crisis and leave ​a 30-billion-euro ($35 billion) hole in funding for healthcare, pensions and welfare, Reuters reported. 

Prime Minister ‌Sebastien Lecornu has no majority in parliament and his scramble to win Socialist support - including suspending President ‌Emmanuel Macron's pension reform - has alienated centrist and conservative allies, leaving the bill's fate uncertain.

Lawmakers in the lower house begin reviewing the bill after 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, days after narrowly approving the taxation side of the legislation, according to Reuters.