Latest news with #ententeamicale
Arab News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Will UK-France ‘one in, one out' deal solve migration dilemma?
Forget the rebranding of the UK-France 'entente cordial' as the 'entente amicale,' as expressed by King Charles when he toasted the relations between the old neighbors when he received Emmanuel Macron during last week's first state visit for a French president since 2008. Forget also the joint nuclear deterrent agreement reached between London and Paris. Forget Macron's mantra of standing together to 'save' European democracy. Forget the need to unhook Europe's excessive dependencies 'on both the US and China.' Forget the need to save a democratic model that is under threat from 'foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media,' as Macron told Parliament. Forget the commitment to save and defend Ukraine, used repeatedly by British and French leaders at every official meeting. Lastly, forget the commitment to finding a solution to the Gaza conflict or a means to lessen the humanitarian blockade starving the Palestinians, as well as the threat to unilaterally recognize Palestine. Forget all these important issues that were evoked during Macron's three-day state visit. Instead, most of the attention focused on the vexing issue of cross-Channel migration, which has become a major headache for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's one-year-old Labour government — just like it has been for all prime ministers, without exception, since the mid-1990s. But it is becoming increasingly problematic because the failure to manage UK migration policy has become the ladder climbed by right-wing populist parties like Reform UK. The 'one in, one out' policy that London and Paris last week unveiled as a pilot program — meaning some of the migrants arriving in the UK on small boats will be returned to France — may not be the silver bullet needed to save Starmer's premiership. Though Starmer described the deal as 'groundbreaking' and capable of stemming the record numbers of people who have embarked on the perilous journey so far this year, it will need time to prove its effectiveness. The failure to manage UK migration policy has become the ladder climbed by right-wing populist parties Mohamed Chebaro Starmer hopes that the deportation of those who cross the English Channel from France will break the model that has been used for the past few years. And he hopes that it will signal to migrants that, if they cross in a small boat, they will ultimately end up back where they started. In exchange for every return, a different individual will be allowed to come to the UK in a legal and safe manner, as part of a scheme for reuniting families or for those who already have a link with the country. The pilot program is understood to start with 50 returns a week and is likely to be ready to commence in the coming weeks. More than 21,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in rudimentary vessels so far this year, 55 percent more than in the same period last year. While the new measures are yet to be tested, some other new powers recently demonstrated by French police could yield different results. Police officers were seen slashing the small rubber boats with knives as they tried to pick up migrants in shallow waters. This dangerous new practice is yet to be contested in court by human right defenders, while it might also not be easy to apply along the entire coastline. Data gathered from both the British and French sides is alarming. Just since May 2024, when the Home Office began publishing this data, the French authorities have prevented more than 33,000 migrants from crossing the Channel to the UK. This includes 21,317 individuals who were prevented from crossing in May to December last year and 12,321 so far in 2025. France has also engaged in 1,158 'events' in that same period, referring to small boats not being allowed to leave or the arrest of smugglers. That means only about four out of every 10 migrants are being stopped from crossing — a figure that Starmer will want to see rise, as he is under pressure from those using migration failures to turn public opinion against the government. At the same time, they are sowing discontent in some communities that could lead to violent acts, threatening the peace and civil cohesion. The truth came in a statement made by Macron, as he blamed Brexit for the sharp increase in migrant arrivals Mohamed Chebaro The truth that neither the government nor the people of the UK wanted to hear came in a statement made by Macron during his visit, when he blamed Brexit for the sharp increase in migrant arrivals. He claimed that Britain's 2020 departure from the EU had worsened the situation in the Channel, cutting off legal migration routes and London's access to the bloc's returns agreements. It appears that those who so hastily engineered and enforced Brexit did not consider the legal parameters that needed to be in place to send people back. That void has become the pull factor and, as a result, the bitter truth is that leaving the EU has had the opposite effect on migration to what the Brexiteers promised. However, Brexit may not be solely to blame, as other factors have left the immigration processing system exposed, such as the policy of austerity during the 14 years of Conservative government up to last July and the slow and ineffective visa schemes that brought much-needed workers to the country. Many of those workers ended up playing the system and becoming a burden on the welfare state, which was already suffering after years of underinvestment. Last week's UK-France summit yielded a lot in terms of upgrading the cooperation between these two neighbors and strategic allies. But its success or failure hinges entirely on the ability of both countries to curb cross-Channel migration, the rise of which was a clear result of Brexit. The one in, one out plan looks good on paper, but its implementation relies on many variables that neither Macron nor Starmer control. It is worth mentioning that, when accounting for population, the UK receives fewer asylum applications than France and the EU average. The French Interior Ministry recorded 157,947 asylum applications in 2024, compared to 108,138 applicants in the UK. Across the EU, there were just under a million applications for the same period. The UK will have to prepare to receive some of these if its new deal with France is going to work.
Telegraph
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Macron is quite the smoothie, but even bestie Keir wants him to put a sock in it
Emmanuel Macron's visit has brought about a new understanding between Britain and France. After 120 years, the entente cordiale, which always sounds to me like sipping lime juice under canvas, has been upgraded to entente amicale. All pals now. After listening to the French president bang on about it, I wondered whether entente prolixe might not have been le mot juste. My God, Macron is fond of his own voice. Not that those watching on television heard much of it. After a quick 'cher shir kya' the president's mic was turned down and he was replaced by a translator who spoke very rapidly for a long time but constantly sounded like he was trying to stifle a yawn. Sir Keir Starmer, who went first, had gone in heavy with the amicale, saying that Macron had been a 'firm friend to me personally and a firm ally to the United Kingdom'. The besties looked adoringly at each other, then Macron turned to the audience and gave someone in it a little wink. He's quite a smoothie. Starmer explained, with his odd emphasis (' the one-in, one-out proposal in which Britain can send illegal migrants back as long as we take an equal number who haven't tried it on. This may be limited, it has been reported, to 50 a week but he didn't give a number. Meanwhile, 220 people had arrived on Kent beaches by lunchtime. This plan, Starmer told us, would soon be 'operationalised', an appalling piece of jargon that he also used to describe his new Northwood Declaration that Britain and France may one day hold hands as they press the nuclear button together. 'This is truly historic,' he insisted. 'Quite serious diplomacy.' I was more concerned that we didn't already have a co-ordinated nukes policy. Better hope there's a northerly wind if Russia kicks off. Then over to Macron, who spoke for 20 minutes (12 more than Starmer), appeared to blame Larry the Downing Street cat for almost destabilising the talks – the one thing I wanted to hear more about – and said that loaning the Bayeux Tapestry demonstrated our new relationship, it depicting a time when several hundred people came over the Channel in boats and we couldn't send them back. Perhaps the policy they have embroidered this week will end with the motto: 'Hic Keir dux interfectus est.' Above all, though, Macron wanted to lay into Brexit and taunt those who had voted for it. 'You thought it would help ease migration!' he scoffed, adding an implied 'Pah!' Then up popped the one man in the room who is more long-winded than Macron and has an odder speech pattern than Starmer: ITV's Robert Peston. He delivered three long questions in two languages. The Wodehouse line about the 'shifty, hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French' does not apply to Peston. He relished the chance to show off. A startled Starmer reached for his earpiece, perhaps hearing the word 'empêcher' (prevent) and wondering whom Peston wanted impeached. Macron beamed and then delivered another rant about Brexit. Maybe the heat had got to him, for he was curiously wearing a waistcoat on such a sweltering day. ' You were sold a lie on Brexit,' he said, arguing that he spent three euros on migration measures for every quid we spend and attacking those awful populists with their 'denial of science'. Many will agree with him but Starmer wore a pained expression that indicated he would rather Macron put a sock in it. Not helpful, Manu. He half-heartedly said that 'megaphone politics achieves nothing' and complained about those who just take pictures of the problem rather than dealing with it, but he was anxious to avoid discussing Brexit. Unlike Macron, he realises how annoyingly popular populists seem to be.
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
King Charles and President Macron share touching moment after French leader's visit
King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron shared a notably warm and extended farewell at Windsor Castle, marking a successful start to the French leader's state visit. A clear display of their burgeoning rapport, the two men clasped hands for a remarkable 28 seconds upon their departure, concluding the initial phase of the three-day trip. Their conversation continued throughout the lengthy handshake, which became particularly poignant as Mr Macron clasped the King's hand with both of his in its final moments. Earlier the president and his wife had spent a private period laying flowers at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II who was laid to rest at the King George VI Memorial Chapel within the castle's St George's Chapel. At the Windsor Castle state banquet held in Mr Macron's honour on Tuesday night the French leader had paid tribute to the late Queen, saying: 'To you she was your Queen, to us she was the Queen.' The last words spoken between the King and his guest was their re-branding of the famous entente cordiale to the 'entente amicale' spoken by Charles with Mr Macron replying 'thank you, so much'. They had been joined by Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron who exchanged goodbye kisses with the men and the foursome posed for a picture before they parted company. The King and Mr Macron had earlier enjoyed a walk around the castle's gardens, with Charles showing his guest areas of work on nature restoration and biodiversity. State visits usually feature an exchange of gifts and Charles presented the president with an oak sapling for the garden of the French residence in London during the tour, a present in response to an oak from Mr Macron gifted during the King's 2023 state visit to France for the British residence in Paris. Charles is a keen watercolourist and he gave the president a set of 12 placemats of scenes from Scotland and France he had painted, and a 1931 edition of John Florio's translation of the works of French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne. In return, Mr Macron gave the King a copy of the original piano and vocal score of Pelleas et Melisande by Debussy and a Sennelier watercolour set in an inscribed walnut case. Other gifts included a trumpet, made by Couesnon, from the cavalry band of the French Republican Guard and a hamper of produce from the Elysee Palace, including honey from the palace beehives. The two men appeared to be engrossed in the tour as Camilla and Mrs Macron were left waiting for their husbands to view items from the royal mews. A charabanc carriage, gifted to Queen Victoria by King Louis-Philippe of France in 1844, was waiting at the end of the Long Walk and nearby was a 10-year-old dapple grey horse Fabuleu de Maucour, given by the president to the late Queen in 2022 to mark her Platinum Jubilee. When the men arrived, kisses were exchanged but, with Camilla due to visit Wimbledon, and the royal couple attending a Buckingham Palace event, the Queen patted Charles, as she has done in the past, in an apparent bid to hurry him along and keep him on schedule.
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
The 28-second handshake between King Charles and President Macron
King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron shared a remarkably warm and extended farewell at Windsor Castle, marking a successful start to the French leader's state visit. Their departure featured a notable 28-second handshake, during which their conversation continued, symbolising their burgeoning rapport. Earlier, President Macron and his wife laid flowers at Queen Elizabeth II's tomb and attended a state banquet where he paid tribute to the late Queen. The two leaders toured Windsor Castle gardens, discussing nature restoration, and exchanged gifts, including an oak sapling and a watercolour set painted by the King. Their final words re-branded the traditional "entente cordiale" as the "entente amicale," further highlighting the strong bond between them.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Charles bids farewell to President Macron during touching goodbye
The King and President Emmanuel Macron enjoyed a long goodbye as the two men bid farewell after a successful start to the French leader's state visit. In a sign of their friendship, Charles and the French leader clasped hands for 28 seconds as they parted company at Windsor Castle when the first element of the three-day trip came to an end. The King and president talked during the handshake which became more poignant when Mr Macron held Charles' hand with both of his for the last few moments. Earlier the president and his wife had spent a private period laying flowers at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II who was laid to rest at the King George VI Memorial Chapel within the castle's St George's Chapel. At the Windsor Castle state banquet held in Mr Macron's honour on Tuesday night the French leader had paid tribute to the late Queen, saying: 'To you she was your Queen, to us she was the Queen.' The last words spoken between the King and his guest was their re-branding of the famous entente cordiale to the 'entente amicale' spoken by Charles with Mr Macron replying 'thank you, so much'. They had been joined by Queen Camilla and Mrs Macron who exchanged goodbye kisses with the men and the foursome posed for a picture before they parted company.
