Latest news with #LancasterHouse
Eyewitness News
10-07-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Macron wraps up UK state visit with defence pact 'reboot'
LONDON - French President Emmanuel Macron wraps up a three-day state visit to Britain on Thursday with a summit aiming to "reboot" defence ties with a focus on joint missile development and nuclear co-operation. Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also expected to discuss maintaining support for Ukraine and curbing undocumented cross-Channel immigration. Ahead of the summit, which follows two days of events spanning pomp and politics, trade and culture, France and Britain announced their "defence relationship" will be "refreshed". They will order more Storm Shadow cruise missiles -- long-range, air-launched weapons jointly developed by the allies -- while stepping up work on a replacement system. The missiles have been shipped to Ukraine in significant numbers to help Kyiv in its war with Russia since 2022. Starmer and Macron will also agree to deepen nuclear cooperation and "work more closely than ever before on nuclear deterrence", according to Britain's defence ministry. A new declaration will for the first time state that the British and French deterrents are independent but can be coordinated, and that an "extreme threat to Europe" could "prompt a response by both nations", the ministry said. - Threats 'multiplying' - The partnerships -- to be developed under a refreshed Lancaster House agreement first struck in 2010 -- herald a new "entente industrielle", making "defence an engine for growth", it added. "From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks -- the threats we face are multiplying," Starmer said in a statement. "As close partners and NATO allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level. "We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities -- equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe." Late Wednesday, at a speech to London's financial community, Macron said the two countries were "stronger together". Starmer and Macron will also on Thursday dial into a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing" on Ukraine. Britain and France are spearheading talks among the 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces. Starmer's office said this week that the call would "discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia". They will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency. - 'Innovative solutions' - Macron's visit, the first by an EU head of state since Brexit, has been loaded with Anglo-French bonhomie and unifying rhetoric, alongside the usual pageantry of such occasions. Macron and his wife Brigitte received a particularly warm welcome Tuesday from the Francophile King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The pair toasted a new "entente amicale" at a lavish state banquet at Windsor Castle, hailing the importance of cross-Channel relations amid various emergent threats. Wednesday saw the French president's visit turn to politics, with a Downing Street meeting with Starmer focused on migrant small boat crossings -- a potent political issue in Britain. It is set to feature again at Thursday's summit. Downing Street said the two leaders had "agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model" of cross-Channel people smugglers. Macron also met with Anglo-French business representatives during the visit, while joining Starmer at the British Museum to formally announce a landmark cultural exchange. France will loan the famous Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026. In return, London will lend French museums the collection from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England's most important archaeological sites, as well as other medieval "treasures".
Int'l Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Macron Wraps Up UK State Visit With Defence Pact 'Reboot'
French President Emmanuel Macron wraps up a three-day state visit to Britain on Thursday with a summit aiming to "reboot" defence ties with a focus on joint missile development and nuclear co-operation. Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also expected to discuss maintaining support for Ukraine and curbing undocumented cross-Channel immigration. Ahead of the summit, which follows two days of events spanning pomp and politics, trade and culture, France and Britain announced their "defence relationship" will be "refreshed". They will order more Storm Shadow cruise missiles -- long-range, air-launched weapons jointly developed by the allies -- while stepping up work on a replacement system. The missiles have been shipped to Ukraine in significant numbers to help Kyiv in its war with Russia since 2022. Starmer and Macron will also agree to deepen nuclear cooperation and "work more closely than ever before on nuclear deterrence", according to Britain's defence ministry. A new declaration will for the first time state that the British and French deterrents are independent but can be coordinated, and that an "extreme threat to Europe" could "prompt a response by both nations", the ministry said. The partnerships -- to be developed under a refreshed Lancaster House agreement first struck in 2010 -- herald a new "entente industrielle", making "defence an engine for growth", it added. "From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks -- the threats we face are multiplying," Starmer said in a statement. "As close partners and NATO allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level. "We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities -- equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe." Late Wednesday, at a speech to London's financial community, Macron said the two countries were "stronger together". Starmer and Macron will also on Thursday dial into a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing" on Ukraine. Britain and France are spearheading talks among the 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces. Starmer's office said this week that the call would "discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia". They will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency. Macron's visit, the first by an EU head of state since Brexit, has been loaded with Anglo-French bonhomie and unifying rhetoric, alongside the usual pageantry of such occasions. Macron and his wife Brigitte received a particularly warm welcome Tuesday from the Francophile King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The pair toasted a new "entente amicale" at a lavish state banquet at Windsor Castle, hailing the importance of cross-Channel relations amid various emergent threats. Wednesday saw the French president's visit turn to politics, with a Downing Street meeting with Starmer focused on migrant small boat crossings -- a potent political issue in Britain. It is set to feature again at Thursday's summit. Downing Street said the two leaders had "agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model" of cross-Channel people smugglers. Macron also met with Anglo-French business representatives during the visit, while joining Starmer at the British Museum to formally announce a landmark cultural exchange. France will loan the famous Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026. In return, London will lend French museums the collection from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England's most important archaeological sites, as well as other medieval "treasures".
The Herald Scotland
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
UK and France order more Storm Shadow missiles and step up military co-operation
The two countries have discussed co-operation on a replacement for years but, as French president Emmanuel Macron visits the UK, the nations will commit on Thursday towards the next phase of the project for Storm Shadow's successor. The joint development will help to sustain more than 1,300 jobs in the UK, according to the Government. On the third day of Mr Macron's UK state visit, he and Sir Keir Starmer will also agree to deepen nuclear ties. Britain and France, the only two nuclear powers in Europe, will state in a declaration that their nuclear deterrents – while independent – can be co-ordinated, with the aim of deterring threats like Russia from attacking Europe. The declaration comes at a time when Donald Trump's US administration is calling on European Nato powers to take on a larger role in the alliance. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks – the threats we face are multiplying. 'As close partners and Nato allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level. 'We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities – equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe.' Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'The UK and France are stepping up together to meet today's threats and tomorrow's challenges. We are committed to driving defence as an engine for growth, delivering better fighting capabilities faster, and ensuring our armed forces can operate side by side – from the High North to the Black Sea. 'This partnership strengthens our leadership in Europe, ensures continued support for Ukraine, and sends a clear signal to our adversaries that we stand stronger, together.' Building on the 2010 Lancaster House treaties between France and the UK, the two countries will also bolster a shared military venture, known as the Combined Joint Force. They also plan to forge closer military industrial ties, including in AI and direct energy weapons, as part of a programme dubbed the 'Entente Industrielle' by the UK Government.
Telegraph
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Macron's Farage snub will come back to haunt him
The first thing to understand is that Emmanuel Macron needs to make a success of his state visit to Britain even more than Keir Starmer. He's been a lame-duck president ever since he called a snap general election last year that he resoundingly lost. Macron chose his two handpicked PMs for their supposed capacity to avoid no-confidence votes in the National Assembly – and not much else. The first, Michel Barnier, a 74-year-old moderate Gaullist of Brexit negotiations fame, duly fell when hard-Right and hard-Left briefly joined forces last December. The second, François Bayrou, a prickly old-style provincial Centrist baron, also 74, has been slaloming ever since to avoid the same fate: he may still be hanging on by a nail, but he has achieved the dubious record of being the most unpopular PM of the Fifth Republic, with only 14 per cent of the French population having a favourable opinion of him. French PMs are usually chosen to shield the sitting president by putting their names to unpopular policies. (Le président takes all the credit for anything that looks good). All Macron's got left, pace the De Gaulle-designed Constitution of the Fifth Republic, is what is known as the president's domaine réservé: foreign affairs and defence. His visit to King Charles, his address to Parliament, his updating of the Lancaster House military agreements between the UK and France should all contribute to burnish his image. Add an open coach ride with the Prince and Princess of Wales, a reception at Windsor Castle in an atmosphere of glittering bonhomie – Brigitte Macron and Queen Camilla actually do like one another, and share an easygoing sense of humour – and it seemed hard for the reset of British-French relations to fail. And then Macron, supported by the same technocrats and diplomats that put France at the forefront of the EU's intransigence over Brexit negotiations, decided that while he would entertain the leaders of the main British political parties, he would absolutely not meet Nigel Farage. 'Reform has only 4 sitting MPs', we hacks were briefed by underlings. 'It's not representative.' France's excellent ambassador to the Court of St. James, Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne, is no doubt aware that Reform polls higher than any other British party; you might think keeping a connection with any opposition leader is part of her job. After all, Farage was an active MEP for years, and has occasionally evoked fond memories of his time in Strasbourg. Macron's snub of Farage is an expression of contempt for populist politicians. It's likely that the French president also means to tar Farage with the same brush as Le Pen and her deputy Jordan Bardella. Reform voters, like Le Pen's, must be ringfenced; their leaders must be kept outside any kind of political debate at the very moment when many of their arguments have become mainstream. Macron is playing French politics here. He hopes that the non-Melenchonista Left might support whatever initiatives he will dream of in the next 18 months; he wants to present himself as a bulwark against the populist Right. Those who will remember the slight against Farage are Right-wingers both in France and in Britain – and possibly the King, who, following his mother's footsteps, has always made a point of not alienating any of his subjects. Should Prime Minister Farage one day come to Buckingham Palace, King Charles will certainly receive his allegiance and put him down in his diary for every Wednesday.
Bloomberg
10-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
China and US Holding Second Day of Trade Talks in London
The US and China resumed talks into a second day in London, with financial markets on edge as the world's largest economies try to agree to allow exports of key tech and industrial goods and avoid escalating their trade war. The teams led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were reconvening Tuesday just after 10:40 a.m. at Lancaster House. The Georgian-era mansion near Buckingham Palace has hosted major addresses by UK prime ministers, speeches by central bank governors and parties for Britain's royal family.
