The Foreign Secretary told Tory members at a leadership meeting in Norwich on Thursday that she was undecided about whether her counterpart in Paris was “friend or foe”. A number of issues have affected the UK and France in recent months, including boat crossings in the English Channel and the travel chaos in Dover, which Truss blamed on the French authorities. Truss and rival candidate Rishi Sunak were subjected to a series of rapid-fire questions, including their views on Macron, in the hearths. TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer, who presented the event, asked Truss: “President Macron, friend or foe?” “The jury is out,” he replied to loud applause from Tory members. Truss then added: “But if I become prime minister, I would judge him by actions, not words.” The former chancellor, who remains the outsider in the Tory race, was quick to reply “friend” when asked the same question about Macron. Labour’s David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, said Macron’s comments showed a “sad lack of judgement” by insulting a close ally. “At a time when the West must remain united in the face of Russian efforts to divide us, the fact that the Secretary of State chose to wantonly insult one of our closest allies shows a terrible and disturbing lack of judgment,” he said. He added: “Liz Truss’ decision-making has clearly become clouded by weeks and weeks of playing to the gallery of Tory members rather than focusing on the country.” Former Tory minister and counterpart Gavin Barwell tweeted: “You’d think the Foreign Secretary knew we were in a military alliance with France.” Commentators called her comments “deplorable” and “gun-grade idiocy,” with Times columnist Hugo Rifkind writing on Twitter: “You look at this and think, ‘How could anyone saying this ever be prime minister?” And then you remember he’s already foreign minister.” Elsewhere in the race, Ms Truss admitted that if it was a choice between relying on France or China for nuclear expertise, she would choose France. Answering questions before an audience of Tory MPs, she said: “I am very clear that we need to strengthen our nuclear industry, including Sizewell, including the small modular reactors that are produced in Derbyshire. “Frankly, I’d rather have more domestic nuclear expertise, and unfortunately we’ve lost that because we failed to do these things 20 years ago or 30 years ago,” he said. “If it’s a choice between France and China, I’d take France.” Liz Truss said the jury is out on whether Emmanuel Macron is friend or foe (Yves Herman/PA) (PA File) It comes after Mrs Truss distanced the UK from the prospect of a plan to be part of a wider European political community following a meeting between Boris Johnson and the French president in June. The Elysee Palace insisted the Prime Minister had expressed an interest in the idea, which would involve non-EU states such as the UK. Ms Truss denied the UK had ever agreed to such a proposal, saying afterwards: “That is not true. I don’t know the exact words that President Macron used, but we have not agreed on that.” Asked if she bought his “political and economic community”, she replied: “No”. In July, he said travel delays for holidaymakers near Dover were the fault of the French authorities and were “entirely avoidable”. However, one French politician blamed Brexit for the chaos. Pierre-Henri Dumont, a Republican MP for Calais, said the problems at the port of Kent would re-emerge, telling BBC News: “This is a consequence of Brexit. We have to do more checks than before.”
