Security high on agenda as May meets Macron
Pledge to tackle radicalisation
We want to maintain a close relationship with the EU.
Prime Minister Theresa May.
BREXIT TALKS will start next week and the timetable remains on course, Theresa May said following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron where security was also high on the agenda.
The Prime Minister flew to the French capital after breaking off from negotiations with the Democratic Unionist Party to shore up her minority government following last week’s disastrous election results.
Mrs May and Mr Macron said they discussed Brexit, security issues and migration.
Mrs May, speaking at a press conference, said: “We have been very clear we want to maintain a close relationship and a close partnership with the EU and individual member states into the future, including in the areas we’ve discussed this evening.
“And I confirmed to President Macron that the timetable for the Brexit negotiation remains on course and will begin next week.”
Mr Macron said France wanted the negotiations to start as “quickly as possible”, later saying: “Of course the door remains open, always open until the Brexit negotiations come to an end.”
He added: “That being said a sovereign decision was taken by the British people and that is to come out of the European Union and I very much respect the decisions taken by the people, be it by the French people or the British people. Until the negotiations come to an end, of course there is always the possibility to re-open the door.”
AS THERESA May arrived in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, their political fortunes could scarcely have been more contrasting.
Back in April the Prime Minister was in charge of a government with a small, though workable, majority and riding high in the polls, while Mr Macron was the young upstart hoping to become France’s leader.
Fast forward eight weeks and Mrs May is a much diminished political figure following an unexpectedly bruising election, while the charismatic Mr Macron has been swept to power and his fledgling En Marche! party is on course to win a landslide victory following the first round of parliamentary elections.
Nevertheless, appearing alongside Mr Macron at the Élysée Palace presented the PM with an opportunity to regain control over the political agenda after what has been a chastening few days. Both Britain and France have suffered at the hands of Islamist terrorists and yesterday the two leaders stood united before discussing plans to stop the internet being a safe space for terrorists. These could include fines for social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter if they fail to remove extremist propaganda and don’t step up efforts to combat online radicalisation.
The meeting also showed that Britain and France share common ground ahead of what are likely to be fractious Brexit negotiations.
It remains to be seen whether Mrs May is “a dead woman walking”, to use George Osborne’s crowing phrase; in the meantime the onus is on her to prove she is still up to the job – after all, it’s in the face of adversity that we see a person’s true mettle.