Analysis: ‘No cherry-picking,’ they said. And they meant it. The position four years ago is the position now
The French, said George Canning, an early 19th-century British foreign minister, “have but two rules of action: to thwart us whenever they know our object, and when they know it not, to imagine one for us, and set about thwarting that”.
It is a centuries-old British narrative, reflected in recent headlines: “Le bust-up”, “France derails Brexit talks”. With elections approaching, Emmanuel Macron, under pressure from Marine Le Pen, is obviously playing hardball. Blame the French.
