French trade minister to visit UK after post-Brexit ‘hiccup’
France’s overseas trade minister will visit London on Wednesday in what is being hailed in Paris as a return to business as usual between the two countries after Brexit and the cross-Channel “tensions” of Boris Johnson’s leadership.
It will be Olivier Becht’s first official visit to the UK since his appointment last year and comes after a warmer relationship was signalled with the meeting of Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris last month.
Speaking before his visit about the relationship between the two countries, Becht said there had been a change in mindset: “From a trade point of view, relations between France and the UK have always been quite active. There was a hiccup after Brexit and there were a certain number of tensions with the government of Boris Johnson, but we have moved on.
“In comparison to the government of Boris Johnson we can see there has been a change of état d’esprit [frame of mind] and a new willingness to continue to do business together.
“We are neighbours and allies and we know we are confronted with the same challenges today. If we want to stand up to the economic and political competition from China, and if we want to have European autonomy and not depend on the US – and even if the UK is not part of the EU I’m sure it has the same aims – we have to remain solid partners.”
As well as a working lunch in London with the UK’s business and trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, Becht will meet the directors of major banking and financial institutions in the City.
He will seek to reassure investors that Macron’s manifesto reform programme will continue despite his government’s lack of a parliamentary majority and three months of strikes, blockades and
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