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The author was a UK ambassador to France 2012-16 and is the author of ‘Hard Choices: What Britain Did Next’
The political relationship between Britain and France is the worst I have ever known in my 40 years as an ambassador. A recent Harris Poll poll shows that the frustration also affects people’s attitudes in France, with only 40 percent of respondents seeing the UK as a friend, less than 74 percent in Italy and 73 percent in Germany and Spain.
Compare this with how David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed a decade ago. a new security agreement, The French looked curious about the envy at the London Olympics and gave the Queen a thrill during her 2014 state tour.
Brexit showed a change. Britain was widely regarded as France not only from the EU, but also from the backwardness of its European counterparts – an idea that was fueled by Johnson’s government efforts to ignore Europe as it outlined a new part of the world. Brexit fluctuations are more pronounced in France than in other EU countries, from the disruption of Channel ports to they spit on the fish licenses around Channel Islands. There have always been post-Brexit conflicts. But this is a very serious matter – a breach of trust between the two governments, especially between Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson.
The French were left in a state of shock over the UK threat to return to the Northern Ireland protocol. Macron was outraged by what he saw when Johnson argued with him in public at a G7 summit in Cornwall over. send sausages out in Northern Ireland, in an attempt to blame for the difficulties in implementing the Protocol. Sad death of 27 migrants in Channel last November should be a time to reconcile differences. Instead, Johnson wrote a letter to Macron full of ideas that he knew the French would not approve of, and he published them before reaching Macron’s desk.
Working on the Aukus and Australia ships was the last straw. For France to lose this great competition in the US and UK it is always difficult. But the way he was announced left Macron embarrassed. Joe Biden openly admitted that it did wisely handled and initiated a reconstruction work. Johnson did the same, which made things even more difficult with his student insulting the French President.
When No. 10 then floated the idea of a Strategic new alliance and France in British newspapers, what happened in Paris was the fifth.
The problem with this tragic situation is not unique to London. Macron and his cabinet have also been criticized, with unjustified threats, such as power cuts in the Channel Islands. But in the past, the UK-French alliance in areas such as business, culture and sport continued to remain unaffected by political demonstrations, led by a social network. The Harris Poll is a reminder that even this cannot be taken lightly. It is not the French who are beginning to hate Britain, but the indifference. French journalists are unaware of what is happening in the UK, other than to cover the funny stories in Westminster. In the French presidential election campaign, none of them want to re-establish relations with London. The real danger is that the two countries are different, which is why it is so foolish for the UK to deny the next generation of British and French youth the opportunity to live and learn in each other’s countries by Erasmus scheme exchange.
Since Britain’s departure from the EU, relations between the two countries and their European neighbors have become more important than ever. In his Speaking at the European Parliament this month, Macron said what should be in a future relationship is for the British government to stand up for what it says. Message, maybe for the next prime minister?
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