Boris calls for bridge across the Channel

BRITAIN: Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of Britain and France building a bridge over the English Channel, as French President Emmanuel Macron said the two countries should ‘‘make a new tapestry together’’.

The British foreign secretary, who met his French counterpart at yesterday’s Anglo-French summit, said it was ‘‘ridiculous’’ that two of the world’s biggest economies were ‘‘linked by a single railway’’. He had championed the idea of a road tunnel under the Channel but believes a bridge might now be an option.

At the summit, Macron made it clear to British Prime Minister Theresa May that Britain will have to pay if it wants access to the European Union’s financial services market after Brexit.

Macron warned May that wanting full access to the single market without accepting freedom of movement amounted to ‘‘hypocrisy’’.

Britain wants the financial services industry, which has a trade surplus of £72 billion (NZ$132b) with the EU, to be included in any Brexit trade deal, but Macron said: ‘‘If you want access, be my guest, but you need to contribute to the [EU] budget.’’

He added: ‘‘Otherwise, you can choose between Norway or being a member of the EU.’’

May and Macron, who was making his first presidential visit to Britain, agreed to a new treaty on border controls, which Macron christened the Sandhurst Treaty after the location of the talks at the Royal Military Academy in Berkshire.

It includes a promise that Britain will take up to 260 unaccompanied child migrants from Calais and other Channel ports, and will reduce the amount of time taken to process their applications from six months to 25 days. Adults seeking asylum in Britain will be given a decision within a month, which May believes will deter illegal migrants from flocking to Calais, because they could face being sent home more quickly if their claims are turned down.

Johnson’s hopes of a 35-kilometre Channel Bridge, however, proved the most eye-catching suggestion to come out of the talks.

He hinted at his desire for more big Anglo-French infrastructure projects when he tweeted: ‘‘I’m especially pleased we are establishing a panel of experts to look at major projects together. Our economic success depends on good infrastructure and good connections. Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step?’’

Johnson is understood to have told aides: ‘‘We are two of the world’s greatest economies linked by a single railway. It’s ridiculous.

‘‘Technology is moving on all the time, and there are much longer bridges elsewhere, including one that is 34 miles (55km) long in Japan.’’ –