President Emmanuel Macron praised France’s “unbreakable tie” with the UK after a telephone name providing condolences to King Charles III.
It’s the second time because the Queen’s demise that the French chief has emphasised the connection between the 2 nations, which comes after prime minister Liz Truss controversially questioned whether or not France was a pal or foe of the UK.
Posting on Twitter after Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin was positioned in Westminster Hall to lie-in-state, Mr Macron wrote: “In a phone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday.
“The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, following the path laid by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
During her campaign run to be leader of the Conservative Party, Liz Truss told Tory members at a leadership hustings in Norwich that she was undecided as to whether her counterpart in Paris was “friend or foe”.
Liz Truss mentioned the ‘jury was out’ on whether or not France was a ‘friend or foe’ of the UK
(EPA/PA)
TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer, internet hosting the occasion, requested Truss: “President Macron, friend or foe?”
“The jury’s out,” she responded to loud applause from Tory members. Truss then added: “But if I become prime minister, I would judge him on deeds, not words.”
She was accused of a “woeful” lack of judgement and risking hurt to diplomatic relations with France after she mentioned the “jury’s out” on president Emmanuel Macron.
Former Tory minister and peer Gavin Barwell tweeted: “You would have thought the Foreign Secretary was aware we are in a military alliance with France”. Commentators referred to her remarks “lamentable” and “weapons-grade idiocy”, with the Times columnist Hugo Rifkind tweeting: “You look at this and you think, ‘How could somebody who says this ever be PM?’ And then you remember she’s already foreign secretary.”
The UK and France have clashed on a variety of points in latest months, together with boat crossings on the English Channel and journey chaos at Dover. In an obvious try to clean diplomatic relations, Boris Johnson described the French president as a “tres bon buddy” of the UK.
He additionally claimed that Mr Macron was a “great, great fan of our country”. He advised reporters: “I think I’ve always had very good relations with Emmanuel Macron. Emmanuel Macron est un tres bon buddy de notre pays.”
In his first response to the feedback final month, Mr Macron described Britain as an ally and mentioned its folks would all the time be mates of France, regardless of the occasional errors made by its leaders.
“Britain is a friend of France, I don’t doubt that for a second,” he mentioned when requested in regards to the remarks by Ms Truss, however he warned: “If France and Britain cannot say whether they are friends or enemies… then we are headed for serious problems.”
