Macron is our ‘bon buddy’, says Boris
PM speaks after ‘jury is out’ jibe from Truss
BORIS Johnson hailed Emmanuel Macron as ‘un tres bon buddy’ of the UK yesterday in a bid to calm a diplomatic row with Liz Truss.
The Prime Minister, who has often clashed with the French president, said the relationship between Britain and France was of ‘huge importance’.
His intervention came after Mr Macron gave a frosty response to Miss Truss’s suggestion that ‘ the jury is out’ as to whether he is a ‘friend or foe’ of the UK.
The Foreign Secretary made the off-the-cuff remark during a round of quickfire questions at a Tory leadership hustings in Norwich last night. Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi yesterday played down the importance of the ‘ lighthearted’ comment.
But Mr Macron said it would be a ‘problem’ if the UK was unable to call France a friend.
Asked for his views on Miss Truss’s comments, he paused before replying: ‘Listen, it’s never good to lose your bearings too much in life.
‘The United Kingdom is a friend of France, and you know we live in a complicated world, there are more and more liberals, authoritarian democracies, so there is a sense of imbalance. If the French and British are not capable of saying whether we are friends or enemies – the term is not neutral – we are going to have a problem.
‘So yes of course the British people, the nation which is the United Kingdom, is a friend, strong and allied, whoever its leaders are and sometimes in spite of the leaders and the small mistakes they can make in their speeches.’
Mr Johnson has had a spiky relationship with Mr Macron. He was infuriated when the president questioned the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine during the pandemic and has repeatedly clashed with him over Brexit.
Mr Macron is reported to have referred to the PM in private as a ‘clown’.
Tory peer Daniel Hannan said: ‘Macron’s government has threatened to blockade the Channel Islands and to cut electricity supplies, and has formally asked Brussels to take tough action against the UK so as to make Brexit hurt.
‘It is hardly unreasonable to question whether he is a friend to our country.’
But Mr Johnson took a diplomatic approach yesterday. Asked about Miss Truss’s comments he used ‘franglais’ to declare Mr Macron ‘ un tres bon buddy de notre pays’.
The Prime Minister added: ‘Relations between the UK and France are of huge importance. They have been very good for a long time, ever since the Napoleonic era basically. As for Emmanuel, I’ve had very good relations with him and I can tell you something – he’s a great, great fan of our country.’
During last night’s hustings TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer asked Miss Truss: ‘President Macron, friend or foe?’
‘The jury’s out,’ she replied to laughter and applause.
‘But if I become prime minister, I would judge him on deeds, not words.’
Rishi Sunak, Miss Truss’s rival for Downing Street, had quickly answered ‘friend’ when asked the same question.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Miss Truss of ‘playing to the gallery of Tory members rather than focusing on the country’.