Paris/London/Berlin: Europe is anticipating the prospect of Liz Truss as Britain’s next prime minister with a mixture of irritation and unease: diplomats say that with the war in Ukraine and rampant inflation, the last thing they need is another Brexit battle.
Frontrunner in a ruling Conservative party contest to succeed Boris Johnson, Truss has few admirers across the 27-nation European Union to start with.
As foreign minister, she championed legislation that would unilaterally tear up part of Britain’s divorce deal with the EU and has promised, as prime minister, to get it passed – a move that would put London on a collision course with Brussels.
Her rhetoric during the leadership campaign, while aimed at members of her party who enjoy some bad-mouthing of France and the EU in general, will have done little to help.
Asked last month whether French President Emmanuel Macron was a “friend or foe” of Britain, she replied: “The jury’s out”.
“In the current context, it’s baffling she thinks she can afford to make remarks like this,” one Brussels-based diplomat said. “We’re focused 200 per cent on the war in Ukraine, widespread inflation. We have no time to waste on this.”
Truss campaign officials said the comments were a “joke” and unlikely to have a lasting impact on Franco-British relations.
Still, a French government source said the comments underlined the lack of trust between Paris and London, which has been stoked by accusations that Macron has not done enough to stem the flow of migrants crossing by boat to English shores.
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