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Cleverly: France is more of a ‘sibling rival’ than a friend

By Dominic Penna

JAMES CLEVERLY refused to call Emmanuel Macron a friend yesterday as he described UK’S “sibling rivalry” with France.

The Foreign Secretary told a fringe event that he had spoken to the French president at the Queen’s funeral and praised his comments about the late monarch. But, in echoes of Liz Truss’s “jury’s out” response during the Tory leadership campaign, Mr Cleverly declined to choose, when asked if he considered Mr Macron a “friend or foe”.

“We had a very friendly chat, I said to him that the comments that he made about Her late Majesty were pitch perfect,” he told a Conservative Home panel. “I have no doubt that we will find ways of working brilliantly closely with France, and I have no doubt we’ll find ways of having blazing rows with France, because that’s what the Brits and the French do, it’s our thing.

“I think our proximity sometimes generates friction but … despite perhaps our unique ability to rub each other up the wrong way … we do have a real ability to … work collaboratively.”

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2022-10-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281651078996339

Daily Telegraph