Starmer and Macron are forming a new bromance
It was the most public signal that the Entente Cordiale is back.
A brotherly hug, a 13-second handshake and warm pats on the back between Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.
Together, they strode into a Lancaster House summit about securing the future of Ukraine, advocating for a 'coalition of the willing' of countries who would join them.
In the era of uncertainty – Trump 2.0, Putin 5.0, Gaza, China, the cost of living, and more – Britain and France are the closest they have been in more than a decade.
The rapprochement marks quite a stunning turnaround less than three years after Liz Truss said she could not decide whether Mr Macron was a 'friend or foe'.
Boris Johnson, her predecessor, mocked French diplomatic protest at AUKUS, a submarine deal that cut out France, by exclaiming 'prenez un grip' and 'donnez-moi un break!' At one point, France threatened to cut energy supplies to the UK and Jersey amid a bitter row over access to Britain's fishing waters.
Diplomats say Sir Keir and Mr Macron have been driven together by dual threats of Donald Trump and Russia. But insiders who have observed the two up close say there is a true chemistry between the pair, despite their obvious differences.
Indeed, sources in Paris suggest it is more than a marriage of convenience, with one close to Mr Macron saying the French president thinks of his counterpart as a 'decent guy' he can trust to do serious business with.
But warming relations also have a limit, others warn, as Sir Keir angles to bring Britain closer to the European Union.
Sir Keir, 62, was a human rights lawyer and then a public prosecutor. He has never worked in Europe and does not speak any foreign languages. With at least four more years in power, he has time to settle into the role and strategise long term. He fiercely guards his private life, not even making public the names of his teenage son and daughter.
Mr Macron, 47, was an investment banker at Rothschild who earned €2.9 million in just four years. In addition to French, he speaks English and German. After calling a disastrous election, which ended in a hung parliament, he will leave office in 2027. He married his drama teacher, Brigitte, who is 24 years his senior – and their relationship has been plastered across serious publications and gossip sites the world over.
But the men also have a surprising amount in common. Both are technocratic moderates who hail from the centre-Left, both are keen football players and supporters, of Arsenal and Olympique de Marseille respectively, and both play the piano.
They first met when Mr Macron broke with protocol to invite Sir Keir to the Elysée in 2023 as opposition leader, telling aides he had the 'moral authority' to lead the UK. No such invitation was sent to Jeremy Corbyn or Ed Miliband while they were in the same role. Mr Macron was given an Arsenal shirt while Sir Keir walked away with Elysée cufflinks.
'It went well because they're both technocrats and men who know their dossiers,' said Michel Duclos, a former French diplomat who is a special adviser on geopolitics and diplomacy at the Montaigne Institute in Paris and who played a 'small role' in that meeting.
Sir Keir said the meeting was 'constructive and positive', adding: 'It was my first opportunity to say how much I value the relationship between our two countries, particularly when it comes to prosperity and security and how, if we are privileged enough to be elected into power, intend to build on that relationship and make it even stronger than it is today.'
The relationship received another boost when Rishi Sunak, the then prime minister, left the international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day early to give a TV interview. Sir Keir, who wasn't originally on the invite list, stayed all day and Labour later blasted the Conservative incumbent's 'dereliction of duty'. It was there he also met Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
Mr Macron broke protocol again when he reached out to Sir Keir to congratulate him on election night before he had officially won. The French president was the first world leader to make contact, and the pair spoke again the following day once Sir Keir had entered Downing Street.
The new Prime Minister then impressed his counterpart as he hosted the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Blenheim Palace later that month.
The EPC was the brainchild of Mr Macron, who oversaw its first meeting in Prague in 2022. He designed the gathering as an informal platform to discuss shared concerns beyond the confines of the EU, mainly regarding Ukraine.
It was here that Sir Keir said he sensed a 'real appetite' for a reset in relations between the UK, calling for a 'mature' approach to contentious issues such as small boats, trade and fishing.
Last November Mr Macron invited Sir Keir to attend Armistice Day commemorations in Paris, the first British prime minister to do so since Winston Churchill.
Sir Keir returned the favour in January, inviting Mr Macron to Chequers in January. There, he gave a guided tour of his official country residence in Buckinghamshire, pointing out a chair belonging to Churchill, complete with cigar burns left by Britain's war-time prime minister.
And then Mr Trump took power and started charging towards a peace deal in Ukraine, leaving Europe in his wake.
Sir Peter Ricketts, the former British ambassador to Paris, told The Telegraph: 'Ukraine has pushed the UK and France together as the two leading European military powers after all and then it's just been turbocharged by the chaos of the first Trump six weeks, which has pushed Macron and Starmer into a real leadership role.'
Together, they have come up with an Anglo-French plan for peacekeeping troops to enforce and monitor a ceasefire in Ukraine once the war is over. Europe's only nuclear powers are leading the so-called 'coalition of the willing'.
'I think they've developed a pretty effective duo,' Sir Peter continued, 'because they bring different things. Macron brings a lot of experience to this international stuff, deep relationships with many of the actors. And Starmer brings political stability, which Macron doesn't have'.
'Macron has experience and agility; Starmer has longevity and staying power.'
Both had meetings with Mr Trump in the Oval Office. Mr Macron was stronger in challenging the US president, but it was Sir Keir who came away with a tangible result – no direct tariffs on the UK and approval on the Chagos deal.
Mr Macron himself has summed up his proximity to Sir Keir in three ways, said a source who asked the French president about their relationship.
'First, Starmer isn't a Brexiteer, so from the outset, he was favourable on principle; second, he saw him as a 'decent guy' you could do business with, and thirdly, you can't do defence and security without the British, or the UN Security Council. And both are nuclear powers. The first two points are new.'
Sir Kim Darroch, Britain's former ambassador to the US, said: 'No British prime minister would ever want publicly to side with Europe against America – unless something extraordinary happens. The line will always be that both relationships are essential. But if you look at the current reality the British and French are working exceptionally closely together on Ukraine, and rightly so as the two leading military powers in Europe.'
'There does appear to be a perception in Europe that, whatever the British public line, Starmer is moving the UK closer to Europe,' said Sir Kim.
Mr Duclos concurred, saying that Starmer's decision last month to offer to send troops to Ukraine to provide security guarantees in case of a ceasefire formed the 'basis of the new Entente Cordiale'.
'One product of the Ukraine crisis is that, despite the UK having left the EU, Starmer has taken on a leadership role in Europe, alongside Macron, and with Germany having only a caretaker government,' said Sir Kim.
It may not all be plain sailing though.
Despite their bonhomie, Franco-British sticking points remain, notably on defence industry co-operation.
It emerged last month that Sir Keir's plan to agree a security pact with the EU was being blocked, notably by the French, and there will be no progress on security until he makes concessions on fishing and mobility for young Europeans.'The French have traditionally been very wary about co-operating because they probably feel that the British defence industry is stronger,' said Sir Peter.'The French hide behind the EU rules that say the UK is a third country, and therefore can't be part of the EU defence industry projects and programmes. I hope that the current crisis might be able to sweep some of those restrictions away to let the defence industry work together,' he added.
'Just because they're getting on well, it doesn't mean they're going to suddenly let Britain have an easy ride with respect to its Brexit obligations,' said a source close to Mr Macron.
'That is the caveat.'
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