What a sorry sight to see two great countries, or at least their leaders, fighting like school-kids only two days after the calamity in the Channel in which at least 27 refugees died. Both Johnson & Macron merit some of the blame. But this is mostly down to Johnson 1/
His first reaction after the disaster, after mumbling a few words about his thoughts for the families of those drowned, was to blame France. This was a direct appeal to French-bashing tabloid fury. The Mail online splash the next day was “This is down to you, Macron” 2/
He then had a lengthy phone conversation with @EmmanuelMacron yesterday in which, according to senior French sources & media reports, both men agreed to think afresh about how to reduce the number of flimsy boats crossing 30 treacherous kilometres of sea 3/
.@BorisJohnson then released – & tweeted – a long letter to Macron in which he rehashed old UKG proposals, the most important of which have already been rejected by France. British bobbies should police French beaches; all migrants who cross should be sent straight back again 4/
The first is an obvious no-no – an infringement of sovereignty no Govt could accept. Yes, the Le Touquet treaty moves the British frontier to the pas de Calais. Yes, UKG officials already check passports on French soil (& vice-versa). But British cops on Fr beaches? Non, merci 5/
The second – sending migrants straight back – is frought with domestic & international legal complications. It's an attempt to go back to a situation which existed pre-Brexit (what about take back control???) & didn’t work well then. It is tabloid fodder: not new & not serious 6/
The letters release was timed for last night’s 10pm news bulletins & today’s papers. Still, senior UKG officials point out the PM's conciliatory tone - paying tribute to Fr authorities work on the “challenging issue” of small boats & offering “support and solidarity” 7/
But Johnson has clearly & badly misjudged the mood in Paris. He should know there is a huge trust problem/deficit with Fr. He knows Macron has rebuffed Downing Street’s repeated attempts to arrange a bilateral meeting between the two leaders. He should have been more careful 8/
Macron is indeed furious. He accused Johnson at a presser in Rome today of “adopting methods which are not serious”. Fair enough. But he also foolishly ordered his Govt to withdraw an invitation to @pritipatel to meet her Fr, Ger, Dutch & Belgian peers in Calais on Sun 9/
That also is “pas serieux”. It would have been a very good thing to expose @pritipatel to the wider migration crisis in Europe. Calais cannot be solved in Calais 10/
Paris owed the 27 (at least) migrants who lost their lives that much: to bring the UKG back into a European conversation that it has been ostentatiously snubbing 11/
The big hole in Johnson’s non-plan was any concession that this is in any way, a British problem. Thousands of refugees are so determined to come to Britain that they will risk their lives – but they are only a fraction, remember, of the refugees entering the EU landmass 12/
France, on Britain’s behalf has blocked all truck or train routes for them across the Channel 13/
Fr says Britain must reduce consequent desperation levels in Calais by allowing refugees to apply for British asylum while on Fr soil. For political reasons, this is a no-no for Johnson. But this is why Britain shares, with France, some of the responsibility for Weds calamity 14/
Officials on both sides believe (hope???) the two leaders will eventually acknowledge they have more in common eg on geopolitical issues like China & Russia that will bring them together than they now admit. But this is unlikely to happen for some time 15/
1/ Bc of next spring’s French Pr election & 2/ Bc Johnson is in a weaker position inside his Party & under pressure from Brexiteers to be even tougher to “stop the boats” which will limit his room for manoeuvre 16/
But the dispute over migrants does not shine a flattering light on either country. Whether that continues will depend on whether they are able & willing to put the politics aside - something I fear will prove difficult to do
ENDS
ENDS
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