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The French President said the special relationship would come at “the cost of a historic vassalisation” as the United States would not compensate for the cost of Brexit. He insisted the British people did not vote for their country to become a subsidiary of President Donald Trump when they opted to leave the European Union. Mr Macron will meet Boris Johnson for the first time today in Paris for their first face-to-face Brexit showdown before the G7 summit this weekend.


Speaking to reporters ahead of their meeting, Mr Macron said: “Can the cost for Britain of a hard Brexit – because Britain will be the main victim – be offset by the United States of America? No. And even if it were a strategic choice it would be as the cost of a historic vassalisation of Britain. “I don’t think this is what Boris Johnson wants. I don’t think it is what the British people want.” He added: “The British are attached to being a great power, a member of the Security Council. The point can’t be to exit Europe and say ‘we’ll be stronger’, before in the end, becoming the junior partner of the United States, which are acting more and more hegemonically.” The French President is expecting a “frank” discussion with Mr Johnson and will insist the controversial Northern Irish backstop must stay.

The Prime Minister has called for Brussels to instead accept an alternative solution and a legal commitment to ensure there are no customs checks on the border after Brexit. But Mr Macron said the EU would continue to refuse any renegotiations of the withdrawal agreement, even though the House of Commons has rejected it three times. He said: “Why won’t we accept it? It’s simple: because what Boris Johnson suggests in his letter to President Tusk is to choose between the integrity of the single market and respecting the Good Friday Agreement. “We won’t choose between the two. We won’t jeopardise peace in Ireland, that would be one of the consequences of dropping the so-called backstop.” JUST IN: Brexit LIVE: Macron taunts Boris Johnson ahead of meeting

Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar


“And we shall not accept that Europe becomes a sieve, that there shall be no more checks at the border just because Mr Johnson does not like the backstop,” Mr Macron added. During their lunch meeting, he will demand Mr Johnson to “clarify” his stance and reveal the finer details of how he proposes to avoid a hard border on Ireland. “We’ll have to clarify many things,” Mr Macron said. “I think that, at this stage, what was articulated still remains too imprecise.” He also discarded that Brussels would be to blame if Britain leaves without an agreement, insisting: “That would be Britain’s doing, always.” DON'T MISS

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Brexit timeline

Mr Macron will also demand that Britain coughs up the £39 billion Brexit bill – even if the country leaves without a deal. An Elysee Palace official said: “The scenario that is becoming the most likely is one of no deal. “If the United Kingdom considers that having a backstop is absolutely excluded, that is its right, but in that case it limits the possibility of reaching an agreement.” They added: “The idea of saying ‘there is not a deal, so I won’t pay does not work.”

Angela Merkel shakes hands with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Berlin, Germany