Emmanuel Macron plays host to the royals, and Sir Keir Starmer
over fish, migrants, borders and more. So it is a mark of the cross-channel turnaround since then that France this week rolled out the red carpet for Britain.
Nonetheless it was a moment for Mr Macron and Sir Keir, who had never met, to get the measure of each other. Although quite different in style, they have plenty in common. Both hail from the centre-left: Sir Keir as a Labour moderate; Mr Macron as a former minister in a Socialist government. Both count Sir Tony Blair, a former Labour prime minister, as a regular interlocutor. Both have a professional background outside politics: Sir Keir as a lawyer; Mr Macron as an investment banker.
Up to a point, the French have already turned the page on the dismal cross-channel years under Boris Johnson, and then Ms Truss. Broadly, they work well with Britain’s current prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Last year they agreed to reinforce policing of “small boat” crossings from the French coast, although the results have been limited. The bilateral optics have improved too. In March the two governments got together at the Elysée for a Franco-British summit, the first for five years.
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