France, March 17 -- France's Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne vowed on Thursday to carry on despite a bruising day of political manoeuvres in which she deployed the emergency powers of Article 49.3 to sweep the government's controversial pensions reform bill through the National Assembly.

Borne blamed MPs in the Les Republicains (LR) party for the last-minute decision to avoid a vote in the lower house of parliament and unleash what is considered in French political circles as the nuclear option.

Article 49.3 allows a government to bulldoze legislation through without the need for approval from the National Assembly.

"Some members of the LR group played a personal card and went against their group," Borne told TF1's 8pm news programme. ...