Keir Starmer and French PM Michel Barnier last month (Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street)
In better news for the prime minister, it appears that another ally – Ireland’s Simon Harris – looks set to enter coalition talks to remain in government after his country’s general election last week.
Sir Keir told his biographer Tom Baldwin that he felt embarrassed for Britain at the start of formal Brexit talks in 2017, when Mr Barnier “turned up with a van load of papers in colour-coded ring binders, while David Davis [the then UK Brexit secretary] wandered in with nothing more than his glasses case”.
Sir Keir, then Mr Davis’s opposite number on the Labour frontbench, had met Mr Barnier several times to discuss the possibility of a “bespoke” form of customs union as part of a Brexit deal.
For his part, Mr Barnier told Mr Baldwin that even seven years ago he thought Sir Keir would one day be prime minister. “He was always learning,” he said. “He improved, day after day, year after year. While everyone else made mistakes, he was careful. From the first time we met, I thought there was something about him.”
Mr Barnier has told French MPs they face “a moment of truth” over the social security budget, and will not be forgiven by France if they fail to live up to it.
But Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally (RN) has accused him of failing to keep his promise to listen to those opposed to the plans.
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Publish date : 2024-12-03 08:10:00
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