UK PM Burnham to welcome France’s Macron to Downing Street next week

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will welcome French president Emmanuel Macron to Downing Street next week.

Macron will be the first European leader to visit the UK since Burnham took office.

The visit is another sign the former mayor of Greater Manchester looks set to continue his predecessor Keir Starmer’s policy of a “reset” of relations between the UK and the EU.

Burnham pledged to be “bolder” in closer ties with the EU, during his visit to Kyiv earlier this week, and argued “greater co-operation” was needed across all areas.

Prior to becoming prime minister, he told The Times he wanted to make “further progress quickly including by strengthening our co-operation on illegal migration, economic security and the broader resilience of our societies to external threats — from terrorism to AI-driven disinformation”.

Macron is expected to attend the formal opening of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum, where the 900-year-old artifact is being displayed on loan, according to Politico.

The 70-metre-long, 229 feet, tapestry, which is linen with embroidered images of the Norman Conquest, arrived in the UK from France in July, marking the first time the work had returned to the country since it was made.

A UK-EU summit, which was set to be held on June 22, was postponed to autumn this year following Starmer’s resignation.

They had been aiming to reach an agreement on food and agricultural standards at the summit.

By Rhiannon James, Press Association Parliamentary Editor

Press Association: News

source: PA

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