The New Entente Cordiale
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy has just spent 2 days on a State visit to the UK. He's a bit of a card isn't he, looking as nervous and uncomfortable as I would in such a glare of media and royalty, while his infinitely elegant wife looked on, calm as you like. But get him in front of a microphone and Monsieur Le Président comes into his own. Watching clips of his addresses to Parliament, at the banquet at Windsor Castle and at the Mansion House was like watching the nicest person you've ever met tell your mum all your best features.
Beyond the flattery though, one thing does look reasonably hopeful, and that is he seems keen to improve relations with his neighbours over the channel and this can only be a good thing. He may seduce us with words of his deepest respect for the UK and its new-fangled ways, but there are a number of things we can learn from France: modern nuclear power for one, and bloody good trains for another.
It was also nice to see the President call my country by the right name, unlike the President of our super-special friends over the Atlantic who persists in calling us Great Britain*. I must say I quite like Sarkozy, he's got something about him - a bit of character. Oh to have one of those at the heart of things.
References:
BBC News on President Sarkosy's wooing of the Brits
10 Downing Street
French Presidency
* Dull history lesson: The Kingdom of Great Britain came into existence on the union of England and Scotland in 1707 and fizzled out on union with Ireland in 1801 when the country became known as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 when the Irish Free State was established, we renamed ourselves The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I'm sure Bush prefers to use the anachronism as the USA gained independence from Great Britain in 1783, but that was a long time ago George - things have changed. Although we don't seem very sure about it ourselves: our internet domain is .uk, but our athletics team wears GBR and our car registration plates bear the letters GB beneath the stars of Europe. It's all very confusing.
Beyond the flattery though, one thing does look reasonably hopeful, and that is he seems keen to improve relations with his neighbours over the channel and this can only be a good thing. He may seduce us with words of his deepest respect for the UK and its new-fangled ways, but there are a number of things we can learn from France: modern nuclear power for one, and bloody good trains for another.
It was also nice to see the President call my country by the right name, unlike the President of our super-special friends over the Atlantic who persists in calling us Great Britain*. I must say I quite like Sarkozy, he's got something about him - a bit of character. Oh to have one of those at the heart of things.
References:
BBC News on President Sarkosy's wooing of the Brits
10 Downing Street
French Presidency
* Dull history lesson: The Kingdom of Great Britain came into existence on the union of England and Scotland in 1707 and fizzled out on union with Ireland in 1801 when the country became known as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 when the Irish Free State was established, we renamed ourselves The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I'm sure Bush prefers to use the anachronism as the USA gained independence from Great Britain in 1783, but that was a long time ago George - things have changed. Although we don't seem very sure about it ourselves: our internet domain is .uk, but our athletics team wears GBR and our car registration plates bear the letters GB beneath the stars of Europe. It's all very confusing.
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