The cordial meeting between Macron and Burnham, who must stand united over Ukraine and against Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron was the first foreign leader to meet Andy Burnham, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in July, at Downing Street. It was a festive visit, which began on Thursday at the British Museum, where from next week everyone will be able to admire the Bayeux Tapestry, which has left France for the first time since the 11th century and arrived in London: the loan of this enormous tapestry, depicting the Norman conquest of England in 1066 – “70 metres of fabric reminding us of one of the English people’s greatest defeats”, joked Burnham – was a laborious process; the negotiations “may have taken longer than those for Brexit”, Macron had said last year when announcing the transfer. The visit to the museum was a festive occasion; King Charles showed off his splendid French, whilst Macron and Burnham appeared to be on excellent terms and in high spirits in front of the cameras.

The Economist says that Paris has launched a ‘love bombing’ campaign directed at the United Kingdom, the tapestry is a symbol of this, but so too is the film (of the year) about De Gaulle, based on a biography of the general written by the British historian Julian Jackson, particularly when it recounts De Gaulle’s exile in north London after the Nazis arrived in France in 1940. The UK gave the general refuge, offices, a microphone (from the BBC) and legitimacy, and the French have not forgotten this. The film also demonstrates that nationalism can be defeated, and this is still the message that resonates strongly among the French and the British today. Despite Brexit, despite Donald Trump – or perhaps thanks to them – Paris has understood, having listened, that it is better to remain close, and closely allied, with London. Burnham wants to continue the rapprochement with Europe initiated by his predecessor, Keir Starmer, but in the meantime he must also resolve the issue of the ‘small boats’ carrying migrants across the English Channel (which are by no means small; they are often enormous dinghies) and he must do so in collaboration with France (today sees the opening of the conference of the far-right party Reform UK: the guest of honour is the leader of the French far right, Jordan Bardella). Then there is the defence of Ukraine, which is the defence of Europe, and the eager Macron and Burnham are united on this issue, combative and tireless. The British Prime Minister has a problem with the defence budget, on which he seemed very confident but is in fact far from so; yet this did not matter to the ‘love bomber’ Macron: love is blind, but strong.