Defiant Boris warns Macron: ‘We won’t let Brexit talks drag on’
BORIS Johnson has warned French President Emmanuel Macron that Brexit trade talks cannot stretch on into the autumn.
The Prime Minister’s insistence came as the leaders met yesterday to mark the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s historic radio broadcast from London to rally the French Resistance.
Mr Johnson said it “does not make sense” to keep extending talks on a new trading relationship with the EU beyond the summer.
They are set to be ramped up in July in the hope of making a breakthrough to seal a deal by the time the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson and Mr Macron addressed the issue during their meeting.
A spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister welcomed the agreement to intensify talks in July and underlined that the UK does not believe it makes sense for there to be prolonged negotiations into the autumn.”
Admiration
The leaders also agreed to work together to help tackle the coronavirus crisis and were understood to have discussed the UK’s 14-day quarantine measures.
No 10 said: “They agreed that the partnership between our countries will be crucial in overcoming the coronavirus pandemic and ensuring the global recovery is green and sustainable.”
After Mr Macron’s meeting with Mr Johnson a presidential source said: “France reminded its commitment to a deal and its support of (EU negotiator) Michel Barnier”.
Mr Johnson and Mr Macron saw artefacts and letters from General de Gaulle’s time in London and his partnership with wartime prime minister SirWinston Churchill.
Mr Johnson presented Mr Macron with a framed montage of a telegram sent from General de Gaulle to Sir Winston on VE Day in 1945 and SirWinston’s reply.
He also gave him a model of Sir Winston’s open-top Land Rover and a photograph of General de Gaulle in Paris shortly after its liberation in 1944. General de
Gaulle’s VE Day telegram said: “At the moment when the cannon ceases to thunder in Europe I commit to address to you my faithful thought of friendship and admiration.
“What has been done would never have been without you.
“I am sure of meeting your hope in wishing ardently that our two old and great peoples march forward together in fertile and glorious peace.”
Sir Winston replied: “Although we have had our ups and downs, I have never forgotten that day at Tours when I passed you amid the sorrowful crowd and said, in the hearing of several, ‘There is a man of destiny’.
“I see you now at the head of France, representing more than any other man known to the world her will-to-live and her resolve to recover her greatness.”
Earlier Mr Johnson and President Macron maintained social distancing in Horse Guards Parade as they watched a flypast of the Red Arrows and their French equivalent La Patrouille de France.
Downing Street said the leaders reflected on the sacrifice of the
British and French people during the war and the “enduring strength of the UK-France relationship”.
The spokeswoman said: “They highlighted the modern-day successes of this friendship including the political and defence co-operation enshrined in the Lancaster House Agreement 10 years ago.
“The Prime Minister and president also welcomed the ongoing
co-operation on small boats and illegal migration.”
Four surviving French Resistance “Compagnons” of the Order of Liberation – Edgard Tupet-Thome, 100, Daniel Bouyjou-Cordier, 99, Hubert Germain, 99, and Pierre Simonet, 98 – will receive honorary MBEs for their “courage and sacrifice in defending us and the whole world from fascism”. The
Queen spoke to Mr Macron by phone fromWindsor Castle.
Mr Macron praised Britain’s support for wartime Free France forces, especially, he said, their “first weapon, a BBC microphone”.
He called London “the cradle of Free France” and praised Sir Winston, whose boarded-up statue was uncovered for the visit after being targeted by protesters. Mr
Macron said: “Winston Churchill personified the tenacity of a nation which refused to yield and which did not yield.
“He said he had nothing to offer but ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’. Yet he offered something so much more important: determination, faith in victory, honour and pride.”