He may not have long left as leader of the country, but Boris Johnson is still out and about conducting the finest diplomacy on Britain’s behalf. Today though the PM was fighting fires after Liz Truss started a petit diplomatic spat with the French. Plus ça change…
When asked if French President Emmanuel Macron was Britain’s friend or foe, leadership hopeful and current Foreign Secretary Truss told the crowd at yesterday’s hustings that ‘the jury’s out’. Understandably this has somewhat ruffled les feathers à Paris, where Macron took une swipe at Truss, saying ‘Britain is a friend of France, a strong ally, no matter its leaders, and sometimes despite its leaders or the small mistakes they make when speaking in public.’
Perhaps this is Johnson’s attempt to kiss and make up before he says adieu to Downing Street?
He ominously added ‘If France and Britain cannot say whether they are friends or enemies… then we are headed for serious problems.’ Zut alors!
But never fear, Boris has come to the rescue. Out to reassure everyone that we do indeed still have chums across the channel, Boris, not for the first time, whipped out his finest Franglais. ‘I’ve always had very good relations with Emmanuel Macron,’ he started. So far so good. Clearly struggling to find the right words, Johnson then paused for a second before being struck with what can only be called divine inspiration. ‘Emmanuel Macron est un très bon buddy!’ Parfait.
It’s not the first time Boris has impressed the world with his Franglais. Who can forget Johnson’s plea for Macron to ‘prennez un grip about this and donnez moi un break’ following his shrill protestations that France had been screwed over by a defence deal between Britain, US and Australia. Perhaps this is Johnson’s attempt to kiss and make up before he says adieu to Downing Street?
With the energy crisis spiralling ever further out of control, the war in Ukraine to navigate and a difficult winter ahead you might think that now is not the time for Britain and France to have a tiff. Perhaps Liz Truss should take a leaf out of Boris’s book and make up with Macron?
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