Asked whether Mr Macron, the French president and leader of the UK’s closest neighbour, was “friend or foe”, the front-runner in the Conservative leadership race replied: “The jury is out”. And he added: “If I become prime minister, I will judge him by actions and not by words.” Responding to the foreign secretary’s comment on Friday morning, the French president quipped that “the United Kingdom is a friendly nation, regardless of its leaders, sometimes despite its leaders.” Bills expected to rise after price cap announcement – live updates He told broadcasters: “If you asked me the question, this is roughly how I would answer it – whichever person is being considered and whoever the future leadership in Britain is, I don’t hesitate for a second. The United Kingdom is France’s friend.” President Macron continued: “If, between us as French and British, we are not able to say whether we are friends or enemies – the term is not neutral – we are heading for serious problems. “Well, yes, certainly, let me say that the British people, the United Kingdom is a friendly, strong, allied nation, regardless of its leaders, and sometimes despite and beyond its leaders, or any slips which they do when playing in the gallery.’ The relationship between the UK and France has suffered since Brexit, with the two sides at loggerheads over issues such as fisheries and immigration. Labor warned that Ms Truss’s comment, which could be seen as risking escalating tensions with France, showed a “terrible and worrying lack of judgement”. But on Friday morning, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defended Mrs Truss’s remarks. “It was clearly said as a light-hearted comment with a hint of humor,” he said. “We like people to judge us by our actions, our actions, not our words. And I think it’s only right that we hold our allies to that very high standard as well.” When asked the same question, leadership rival Rishi Sunak immediately responded that President Macron was a “friend”. He has previously said he wants to restore the UK’s relationship with Europe if he wins the race to succeed Boris Johnson. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 1:01 Macron has a “very good friend” says the Prime Minister Meanwhile, the Prime Minister described President Macron as the UK’s “very good friend” when asked about Ms Truss’ comments. “I think I’ve always had a very good relationship with Emmanuel Macron. Emmanuel Macron is the good friend who pays,” Mr Johnson told reporters. He added: “I think the relationship between the UK and France is hugely important. They’ve been really good for a long time, basically since Napoleonic times, and I think we should celebrate that. “As for Emmanuel, I had a very good relationship with him and I can tell you something: he is a big, big fan of our country.” He continued: “And there was a lot of laughter around that. Liz and I both know that France is a strategic ally in defense, in cyber, in our war effort to help Ukraine, all of those things we work very closely with. “We like to be held by our allies for our actions and deeds, not our words, as we did in Ukraine. Liz has led this effort to confront and sanction Putin and his cronies, and of course she will continue to he does that as prime minister.” Read more: Sunak claims he was silenced by negative impact of COVID lockdown Woman confronts health minister over ‘people dying’ waiting for ambulance During the round of rapid-fire questions in Thursday’s showdowns, both Tory leadership candidates were asked whether they would rather stick with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon or Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer. Mr Sunak quipped that he would “prefer to take the stairs”, prompting a big laugh from the audience. Ms Truss said she would pick Ms Sturgeon to “convince her to stop being separatist until we get to the ground floor”. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:23 “Better take the stairs” than get stuck in the lift with Starmer The foreign secretary previously suggested she would “ignore” the Scottish leader over her desire for a new independence referendum and called her an “attention campaigner”. This led to a war of words, with Ms Sturgeon responding that Ms Truss had asked her how she could get into Vogue when they met briefly last year. After giving her answer, Mrs Truss couldn’t resist taking a dig at the Labor leader, saying: “Honestly, being stuck in a lift with Keir Starmer would be extremely boring.” The opposition leader has previously been forced to defend himself against accusations that he is too boring to be prime minister, saying “the only thing that is boring is being in opposition”. Read more: What have the Tory leadership candidates promised for the country? Ms Truss also said Johnson would make a better prime minister than Mr Sunak, after her leadership rival said he would rather see her in Number 10 than the outgoing leader. Ms Truss is widely expected to win the leadership contest when the result is announced on September 5. Mr Sunak said on Thursday he would not give up politics if defeated, but insisted there was still “everything to play for”.
