Friendship between France and UK, US and Australia ‘tarnished’ by AUKUS pact
The bonds of friendship between France and the UK, US and Australia have been “tarnished” by the AUKUS pact, and it is now “more difficult than before” for France to trust those countries, the president of the French National Assembly has told Sky News.
Richard Ferrand is attending the G7 Speakers’ Conference in Chorley, Lancashire, hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a trilateral security pact to develop and deploy nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in the Pacific region.
(L-R) Roberto Fico, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Nancy Pelosi and Richard Ferrand at the G7 Speakers’ Conference in Chorley
Mr Ferrand said: “I think it has somewhat tarnished the bonds of friendship that we have. Yes, it has made things more difficult in terms of trust and friendship.”
On Friday, France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia.
Pressed on why Catherine Colonna, the top French diplomat in the UK was not recalled, Mr Ferrand said: “Obviously it was not my decision but we thought it was more important to recall the ambassadors of the two main protagonists in this thing.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and the army minister reacted by issuing a statement that denounced “a decision contrary to the letter and spirit of Franco-Australian cooperation”, and accused the US of choosing to “sideline a European partner and ally”.
On Friday, the French cancelled a gala in Washington that was planned to mark the 240th anniversary of the Battle of the Capes – when the French navy helped the colonists win the American Revolution.
Pressed on whether the recall of ambassadors sends a strong signal to countries like Russia and China about French relations with its allies, Mr Ferrand said: “No, the strong signal to those countries comes from the fact that a word was given and then broken. There are causes and consequences, so one should not confuse the two.”
The G7 Speakers’ Conference takes place each year in the host speaker’s hometown. This year’s event is being held between 17 and 19 September in Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s constituency in Chorley.
US politician Nancy Pelosi headed to Chorley for the conference
Mr Ferrand planted a French Hornbeam tree to mark the occasion, alongside his G7 counterparts including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives who planted a Sweet Gum Tree.
It would have been difficult to gauge whether their meeting was sweet or sticky when the speakers stood for the traditional ‘family photo’. Standing socially distanced, Mr Ferrand and Mrs Pelosi barely interacted with each other.
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‘AUKUS alliance will bring us closer than ever’
“We have friends and allies who might behave differently towards each other depending on circumstances but it’s very complicated, so let’s not rush to conclusions,” Mr Ferrand later told Sky News.
“These slight unpleasant things that might have happened are not really on the agenda,” he insisted. “We shouldn’t have arguments about anything but we also have to be careful not to forget.”
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Politics
Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94
Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.
Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.
One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.
He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.
Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.
“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.
“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.
“May he rest in peace.”
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA
Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.
“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.
“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.
He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.
Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA
Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.
Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.
Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.
Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.
He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.
Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA
As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.
His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.
He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.
What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.
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