Liz Truss is under fire for apparently wrecking a deal to tackle Channel crossings by asylum seekers with her “friend or foe” gaffe about Emmanuel Macron.
A “groundbreaking” agreement to allow UK immigration officials to work in France to try to stop small boats leaving for England was ready to go, it has been claimed.
But the deal was binned because of French anger over Ms Truss – during the Tory leadership campaign – saying “the jury is out” on whether Mr Macron is a friend of Britain.
French officials reacted by saying “who does this Truss woman think she is – and even demanded that she gave an apology”, a source told the Daily Mail.
Labour said the collapse of the agreement had exposed how “shockingly irresponsible Liz Truss is”, even as the number of people crossing in small boats in 2022 topped 32,000.
“It’s clear Liz Truss says and does things without thinking through any of the consequences and puts pandering to the Conservative Party before the interests of the country,” said Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary.
“Labour has been clear that joint working between France and Britain is vital to prevent dangerous boat crossings that are putting lives at risk – so for the prime minister to fail to get agreements in place is very damaging.”
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “Not content with crashing the economy, Liz Truss has needlessly trashed the UK’s relationship with one of our closest allies.
“This is incompetence at the highest level from the highest office. As a former foreign secretary Liz Truss should have known better than to needlessly alienate our allies.”
At the end of August, at leadership hustings in Norwich, Ms Truss was asked whether Mr Macron was “friend or foe”, after years of UK-French tension over Brexit and other issues.
She replied: “The jury is out. If I become prime minister I would judge him on deeds, not words.”
Mr Macron hit back, saying: “Britain is a friend of France, I don’t doubt that for a second. If France and Britain cannot say whether they are friends or enemies, we are headed for serious problems.”
The source said: “For four years, the Home Office had been pushing for a deal which would allow British officials to work alongside French officials on the other side of the Channel.
“Boris Johnson was ready to sign it off. But it all collapsed after the ‘friend or foe’ remark.”
A government spokesman said: “Our work with the French to prevent the unacceptable rise in dangerous Channel crossings is ongoing.
“This cooperation has prevented over 23,000 illegal crossings since the start of the year, almost 75 per cent more than at this stage last year and our UK-France Joint Intelligence Cell has made more than 500 arrests and dismantled 21 organised crime groups since it was established in July 2020.”
