Is Macron weaponising the migrant crisis?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The migrants that tragically lost their lives in the English Channel has caused Anglo- French relations to further deteriorate. There is a theory however, that it suits Macron’s purpose to be in a perpetual war with the Brits. Could this be the case when migrants are still in the hands of the traffickers?

'These people-smuggling gangs are becoming more sophisticated in their operations' - James Forsyth

Meanwhile, sports shops such as Decathlon on the French coast have stopped selling dinghy boats in an attempt to try and curb the number of people crossing.

Also on the podcast, is the term ‘migrant’ offensive? According to Priti Patel it is.

All to be discussed as Isabel Hardman is joined by Jonathan Miller, a Spectator contributor and James Forsyth.

Subscribe to The Spectator's Evening Blend email, from Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls, for analysis of the day's political news and a summary of the best pieces from our website. Go to www.spectator.co.uk/blend to sign up.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is sponsored by Canacord Genuity Wealth Management, award-winning wealth managers who go above and beyond to support and guide you.
0:09.2	Visit can-dowealth.com to start building your wealth with confidence.
0:15.0	Hello and welcome to a special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, The Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast.
0:21.7	I'm Isabel Harbin and I'm joined by James Versaith and Jonathan Miller.
0:26.2	Well, the migrant crisis and the tragedy in the channel this week where around 30 people have drowned trying to get to the UK in a small boat has been dominating the international
0:40.5	political discussion, James, and it hasn't been very pretty in terms of the fallout and
0:46.2	the blame game we've seen between the British and the French. No, it hasn't. I think you might
0:52.2	have thought that this week's tragedy in the channel would have forced the two sides to move beyond kind of point scoring responses.
0:59.9	And there were some early signs of that, but then things have deteriorated.
1:04.0	Yesterday, Boris Johnson, sorry, on Thursday, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, had a phone call, which sounded quite positive.
1:10.6	Boris Johnson then released a letter summing up what he thought had been discussed in that
1:16.2	phone call and released it on Twitter. The French reacted to that very badly. On Friday morning,
1:22.8	they uninvited Priti Patel from a meeting of kind of northern European interior ministers
1:27.1	that was meant to
1:27.7	discuss this issue. And then Emmanuel Macron went on TV to say that leaders don't communicate via
1:33.2	Twitter and the British aren't serious. Now, Macron is right, but Twitter isn't a vehicle for diplomacy,
1:39.4	but he might want to tell his Europe minister Clement Bone that. But it is also, I think, revealing of just how bad
1:47.1	Anglo-French relations are. But Emmanuel Macron's response to Boris Johnson posting the letter on
1:51.9	Twitter was to go on television and say that the British aren't being serious and these discussions
1:57.7	should take place face to face between leaders. And I think this is, but I think there is a fundamental problem here,
2:04.1	which is, first of all, no easy solution to this problem.
2:07.1	And secondly, Britain will always care more about people entering its territory
	...

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