French Europe Minister uses iconic British wartime poster for childish political stunt

Clément Beaune forgets British troops dying to defend France, misappropriates poster, then backs Barnier

Clément Beaune, French Europe Minister © France24 - and his tweet

Is this grown-up politics from a Minister of State of the French Republic?

Extraordinarily a French Minister has taken an official British Government poster designed by the Ministry of Information in the summer of 1939, and has adapted it for a cheap political gesture. Months after the poster was first produced, British troops were losing their lives on French soil fighting for the freedom of this Minister's people and country against Nazi domination.

On Saturday 05 Sep 2020 the French Europe Minister tweeted the following:

pic.twitter.com/Px1xLu8tAA
— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) September 5, 2020

The EU Commission then endorsed this insult

Monsieur Beaune's tweet was then retweeted by the Official Spokesman for the EU Commission, Daniel Ferrie. We leave it to readers to decide it this is grown-up politics when hundreds of thousands of EU jobs are at stake.

Readers may also question the right of a French Minister of State to satirise an iconic symbol of British resistance against the Nazi domination of Europe. The support to the French people included the mobilisation of significant British forces to defend their country and it cost many thousands of British lives.

This French Minster is the one who said yesterday: “Canada, as far as I know, is not the UK”

Yesterday the new French Minister for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, gave an interview to TV station France24 in which he presented viewers his insights on the world and on Brexit.

The interviewer raised the fact that the UK is seeking a Canada-style trade agreement and this was his response:

“It’s very interesting because a ‘Canada-type agreement’ is a type of agreement. But Canada, as far as I know, is not the UK. And we have 10 times, 10 times, more trade between the EU and the UK than we have with Canada.”

In a searing and probing political interview of the type which would be worthy of the children’s programme Blue Peter, the French Minister was not asked why the EU is therefore not 10 times more interested in doing a trade deal with the UK than it was with Canada.

Readers can watch the interview in English here.

Meanwhile in No.10 the UK Government is quite clearly ‘upping the ante’

Below is the full text of the Prime Minister’s statement issued yesterday.

Prime Minister's words on EU negotiations, 07 Sept 2020, round 8 of EU negotiations

We are now entering the final phase of our negotiations with the EU.

The EU have been very clear about the timetable. I am too. There needs to be an agreement with our European friends by the time of the European Council on 15 October if it’s going to be in force by the end of the year. So there is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on.

We will then have a trading arrangement with the EU like Australia’s. I want to be absolutely clear that, as we have said right from the start, that would be a good outcome for the UK. As a Government we are preparing, at our borders and at our ports, to be ready for it. We will have full control over our laws, our rules, and our fishing waters. We will have the freedom to do trade deals with every country in the world. And we will prosper mightily as a result.

We will of course always be ready to talk to our EU friends even in these circumstances. We will be ready to find sensible accommodations on practical issues such as flights, lorry transport, or scientific cooperation, if the EU wants to do that. Our door will never be closed and we will trade as friends and partners – but without a free trade agreement.

There is still an agreement to be had. We will continue to work hard in September to achieve it. It is one based on our reasonable proposal for a standard free trade agreement like the one the EU has agreed with Canada and so many others. Even at this late stage, if the EU are ready to rethink their current positions and agree this I will be delighted. But we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country to get it.

- The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, No.10 Downing Street, 07 Sept 2020

Repudiating the Withdrawal Agreement based on bad faith by the EU

The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Remainer Theresa May and her team, led by Remainer civil servant Olly Robbins, was almost exactly the version which Boris Johnson subsequently signed, with the exception of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

There is a great deal wrong with it, as we have reported on consistently since it first saw the light of day. Nevertheless, it does contain a revised clause which has relevance today.

The Treaty obliges both parties – the EU and the UK – to act in good faith to negotiate a trade agreement expeditiously. Given that the EU has refused even to discuss a full trade deal unless the UK first agrees to give up its sovereignty over the UK government’s industrial and state aid policies, its coastal waters, and many of its abilities to make laws independently of the EU, it is perfectly clear that the EU has not been acting in good faith.

The EU has in effect been seeking to impose a permanent colonial and subordinate status on the United Kingdom. No country in the world would accept this, and it seems unlikely that any international court would find in the EU’s favour if it ever came to that.

One of Boris’s ‘get out of jail’ cards

Below is the full text of Article 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement. This was signed and agreed by the EU, yet they have not complied with it in any shape or form.

ARTICLE 184 - Negotiations on the future relationship
The Union and the United Kingdom shall use their best endeavours, in good faith and in full respect of their respective legal orders, to take the necessary steps to negotiate expeditiously the agreements governing their future relationship referred to in the Political Declaration of 17 October 2019 and to conduct the relevant procedures for the ratification or conclusion of those agreements, with a view to ensuring that those agreements apply, to the extent possible, as from the end of the transition period.

Observations

Unacceptable, Minister

We consider the tweet from the young French Europe Minister - and subsequent retweet from the EU Commission - to be 'highly unfortunate', to use diplomatic jargon. Readers will no doubt wish to describe this behaviour in their own ways.

Incidentally, the French Minister's full title is: "Secrétaire d'État auprès du ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, chargé des Affaires européennes". Now you know why the French translation of the contract to build the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner was three times as long as the English version.

'Clarifying' the Withdrawal Agreement

Rumours now abound regarding the content of the new Internal Market Bill and Finance Bill which will be presented to Parliament. We shall all know more tomorrow. It is our fervent wish that the Prime Minister stands firm and resolute.

At the time of writing the EU appears to be doubling down on its dictatorial demands for UK subservience. We would remind the fanatical ideologues in Brussels, and the governments of the EU27 member countries, of the words of a great British song which is celebrated annually at this time of year:

“Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.”

As ever, we ask all readers to donate to our work today. We have so much that needs researching and publishing, and so much behind-the-scenes political lobbying to do. Our current resources do not cover what needs to be done. Quick, secure and confidential donation methods are below. Thank you so much if you can help us to keep going.

[ Sources: France24 | No.10 Downing St ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 08 Sept 2020

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Reader Comments 27

11. Patrick F , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 11:26:

Comment 9. What are the tangible benefits of the UK remaining in the EU?

12. Sydney Ashurst , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 11:46:

As the saying goes do you want the good or the bad news first.
Everything that comes out of the EU is bad news, so start with that.
Ireland’s new European Union Trade commissioner is likely to have a pivotal role in deciding on British financial services’ access to the bloc’s markets after Brexit, James Crisp reports.
Mairead McGuinness was announced as the replacement for Phil Hogan, the trade commissioner who was forced to resign after breaking coronavirus restrictions, on Tuesday.
Ms McGuinness, 61, a vice-president of the European Parliament, will be influential in equivalence decisions for the City of London, as well as spearheading Brussels' efforts to lessen its dependence on London for raising funds on the international capital markets and for clearing.
If anyone (not the media) has followed the shenanigans there, they will already have witnessed the expressed dislike by Mairead McGuinness of the British and our elected MEP's
So giving in to the EU for a trade deal will not ease their relations with the CITY

13. Sydney Ashurst , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 11:54:

Another Senior Civil Servant throws in the towel. Is that good or bad news? Depends on how keen you are to leave the EU and its SHACKLES.

14. Brexiter Braintree Essex , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 13:08:

The EU/Canada trade deal has already hit problems, with the Canadians complaining that they are allowing EU goods into Canada but the EU questioning goods going the other way. The French minister doesn't seem to realise that there are other sources of similar products cheaper, and the same quality outside of the EU.There are very few articles unique to the EU and tariffs will make most EU goods more expensive.A trade deal is more beneficial to the EU than the UK.Trying to hold the UK hostage over a trade deal is not the brightest action when there are alternative suppliers available.The UK Government has in good faith tried to negotiate a trade deal, so they have upheld their part of the Withdrawal Treaty,its the EU who have tried to obtain fishing, and level playing field demands before attempting trade negotiations,in breach of that treaty.I suspect the EU might start to panic a bit, the gamble that the UK would roll over to their demands hasn't happened. Now they could be in breach of a treaty, and run out of time, allowing the UK to legally not have to pay any £39 billion monies to the EU and amend the NI agreement when the UK leaves at 11pm 31st December 2020.

15. John M , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 13:38:

Should say Keep Calm and Surrender until the UK can save you from a corrupt dictatorship yet again.

16. Mike S , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 13:41:

Time is running out,both sides stipulate,time is running short to get a deal done & ratified in time for the UK to end the transition period,say the EU. But,there seems to be time enough for pathetic stunts to be played by EU supporters though. When is the UK going to call time on this charade! Time to forget this whole farce & just go.

17. JonL , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 16:42:

It's interesting that all this is going on with a background of remaining EU members blowing holes in existing EU state aid rules. Just today Italy is bailing out Alitalia - an airline that hovers on the brink of bankruptcy at the best of times - France is throwing money at "green" projects and Airbus, Germany is rescuing Lufthansa and so on.
It's pretty clear that EU state aid rules are not intended to minimize state aid at all, but simply to give the EU the power to redirect state aid to where they want it to go, or to the EU members that are most successful in lobbying.
If we let the UK be subject to these rules, I suspect that we will soon find that the UK has "too many" successful high tech companies and then EU Courts will find a way to redirect UK tax money to help the rest of the EU to catch up to the UK record.
The EU trying to take power to dictate the development of the UK's high tech sector, and to drain it away to the rest of the EU if they choose, is about the greatest danger to the UK's future you can imagine.

18. J. Slater Essex UK , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 18:49:

Boris Johnson has done the right thing: he is just getting his ducks in a row in preparation for a No Deal Brexit. Time is running out and the EU would appear to not want to comply with the terms of the Withdrawal Treaty, so that gives us on 31st December a clean break. They either lose face, and negotiate a proper trade deal with us, or we leave without a deal and become a strong competitor right on their doorstep. .We will have the ability to be a low tax, low regulation economy. For the first time in 40 years Britain will decide its own destiny through our own endeavours.

19. Sharon Wales , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 20:28:

Jon 17. I read that Michael O'Leary was to going sue the european commission for the bailouts, but can't find if he has started preceedings.

20. JonL , Tuesday, September 08, 2020, 23:40:

Sharon Wales 20: I found this quote on an airline news web-site. "Ryanair has launched six appeals in the European Court of Justice, each targeting specific events of state aid provided to six airlines. Ryanair isn’t taking the individual airlines to court. Rather, the airline is taking the European Commission to court. But the state aid provided to the six European airlines is behind Ryanair’s challenges." No news of it coming to Court, though.

27 comments, page 2 of 3

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