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British officials have grown concerned by France’s manoeuvres in Washington.

They perceive a concerted attempt to replace UK as America’s top defence partner (exploiting changes from Brexit) and are taking steps to counter.

Unpacked it all in this piece. telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/2…
Includes how history is being used in the battle for DC influence.
Those of a more optimistic bent argue
a) UK is in Five Eyes unlike France
b) UK-US cooperation on nuclear way beyond that with France
c) Such fears have been voiced for many years without fruition
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More from @benrileysmith see all

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Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
NEW: Trump's lawyers will argue that it was legitimate for him to bring up the Bidens during call with Ukrainian pres.

Source working with the president’s legal team says in briefing just now 'there plainly is' legislate reason to mention both Bidens + Ukraine election meddling
The argument goes like this...

The way Dems have framed their case is that mentioning Bidens/Burisma + Ukraine meddling is inherently illegitimate.

Trump's lawyers will argue against that, saying there are justifications for mentioning. [Eg meddling is national security issue.]
Another key argument Trump's lawyers will push again and again in the trial - no law broken.

They will argue every presidential impeachment has made claims a law was violated. That's not the case here.

Therefore impeachment articles are defective.
Read 4 tweets
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Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
Our second 2020 newsletter is out!

Unpacking how the Bernie Warren meltdown could impact the race

+ @RozinaSabur on why Trump trial hurts some Dems seeking W House

If you fancy, sign up here: telegraph.co.uk/us2020-brs
@RozinaSabur Biggest impact of the Bernie-Warren fallout could be decreasing the chance of one speedily dropping out + backing the other after opening states.

They're splitting the Left vote right now [35% when you combine their polling numbers]. If a moderate leads early, will one quit?
@RozinaSabur The other fear for progressives is both candidates lose if they're aiming fire at each other rather than Joe Biden.

Yesterday Bernie backers were sharing social media posts depicting Warren as a snake + her fans were suggesting Bernie was a misogynist (as spotted by LA Times)
Read 3 tweets
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Ben Riley-Smith
@benrileysmith
Just breaking - CNN got the audio for this and Warren supposedly said “I think you called me a liar on national TV.”
Full exchange per CNN. So much for the non-aggression pact. Words just as brutal as the images suggested.
Listen for yourself at 1min in on this clip. Warren’s anger palpable.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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Hilary The Press-Politics Cabal
@atatimelikethis
SJ1/6
Before #Brexit we had
1. "journalists" who would ask
2. "politicians"
3. "questions" about their
4. "ideas".

Now
1=Patsies
2=autocrats
3=nothing
4=Diktats

What should they have asked? #FBPE
Thread⏬

Sajid does an economy doo doo
twitter.com/i/events/12184…
SJ2/6
Mr Javid,

#Frictionlesstrade is a core promise of #Brexit.

Would you dictate that remaining in the Single Market is the wish of the British People?

So how did you arbitrarily dictate that frictionless trade ISN'T a condition of their agreement for us to #Brexit?
SJ3/6
You've said that some industries will benefit while some will suffer. It's a simple question, but one quite important for a $2.6T economy

WHICH?
WHICH??
WHICH???

Yes, who benefits, who suffers? You must know, right? To make that statement?
Read 7 tweets
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Georgina Wright
@GeorginaEWright
What is France's latest thinking on #Brexit? Quick thread after my visit to Paris last week:
1. Frustration: What does UK *really* want? UK want a deal but have yet to fwd proposals the EU can work with; meanwhile, no guarantee PM cd get a deal through Parliament. ‘Nothing has changed’
2. Brexit deal: France wd prefer a deal to no deal & EU prepared to work ‘until last possible moment’ to reach one; but cannot wait until the 17/18 EU Council for negotiations (too late). "We hope UK realises this"
Read 12 tweets
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Mujtaba Rahman
@Mij_Europe
About to take a well-deserved holiday. Few final #Brexit thoughts before I do. Perception across EU is that @DavidGHFrost came to Bxl as a spokesperson for @BorisJohnson, not a negotiator. As has been reported, when pushed, no new ideas were tabled as alternatives to backstop
This said, it's clear to EU officials that biggest shift in Govt's approach (besides ramp up of no deal track) is fact it is no longer seeking "frictionless trade." It no longer subscribes to commitments made by @theresa_may in Dec 2017 JR - neither substance, nor "philosophy"
(ie that there needs to be a legally binding operational solution to Irish border in WA). New Govt sees this as a mistake, although many in Whitehall remain of view that TM’s attempt to square Brexit with a soft border was both responsible & a credible attempt
Read 16 tweets
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KT #Ode2Joy Parker🐬
@lunaperla
Today is possibly .@theresa_may's last day as PM, if .@BorisJohnson can command a majority (which is in some doubt...)

So it's a great opportunity to look back at some of the *highlights* of Mrs May's premiership in memes👇
13 JUL 2016: May was appointed as PM and named her Cabinet shortly thereafter, surprising many by giving 3 of the top #Brexit-related jobs to arch-brexiters Boris Johnson, David Davis & Liam Fox. Sheer folly, or genius in making them own what they'd sold? Sadly, the former😢
/1.
5 OCT 2016: With such a narrow result, the country could be forgiven for expecting May to propose a consensual solution, as Norway PM Erna Solberg had done in a similar situation. Most Remainers would've accepted #Norway.

May's #CitizensOfNowhere speech crushed all hope.
/2.
Read 71 tweets
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Karol Cummins
@karolcummins
‼️Boris Johnson is Britain's Donald Trump

– Complete with Breitbart's Bannon and Russia Cover-Up

BORIS JOHNSON
MAIN MEGA THREAD

#Brexit #VoteLeave #BorisJohnson

H/T @paulhanley12
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Boris Johnson is/was advised by Steve BANNON – Trump’s campaign manager & VP of the notorious, now-shuttered electioneering firm Cambridge Analytica, which he co-founded in 2014 w/ hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who also backed the Breitbart sites.
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
📌Johnson and Bannon became friends when Johnson was still Foreign Secretary and Bannon was still in the White House in early 2017.

📌They have been in contact ever since and the fruits of this friendship have been evident for some time

bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Read 93 tweets
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Paul Chaplin #FBPE 🇪🇺
@CottlestonPie
I'm currently at this #Brexit conference in Copenhagen, where the British ambassador and several #DExEU officials will be on panels with representatives of Danish trade and security. It'll be very interesting to see what's said, especially in light of May's recent Munich speech.
And now that I'm not desperately trying to keep up with livetweeting it, I shall turn my mess of self-retweets into a proper thread. #Brexit #BrexitDK
acknowledges #Brexit will have challenges; emphasises no naïveté regarding "land of milk and honey". Refreshing sense of pragmatism; we'll see how #DExEU and DK reps present it.

#BrexitDK
Read 55 tweets

Trending hashtags

#JustSaying #Brexit #EUCO #4b #Disgrace #Greens #privacy #11a #PeoplesVote #Brexiters #FinalSay #NHS #NoConfidence #Marr #BrexitDK #Backstop #nodeal #SODEM #3b #IsaacAsimov #9a #StopBrexit #Labour #MV4 #ERG
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