Zut alors! The French are in town. Emmanuel Macron is on his state visit this week, spending time today with the King and tomorrow with the Prime Minister. His itinerary includes a state dinner and an address to both Houses of Parliament this afternoon.
All the pageantry, of course, is for a reason: to defrost what Tim Shipman calls the ‘entente glaciale’ and the stalemate over migration. Keir will be hoping to get the French to sign a ‘one in, one out’ migration deal – with Labour seemingly surprised that, upon coming into power, the French didn’t roll over and make concessions on small boats when a left-wing government took office. Can we expect a new entente cordiale? Is there anything in it for Macron when it comes to stopping the boats?
We also received the sad news today that Tory grandee Norman Tebbit and regular Spectator contributor Jonathan Miller have passed away. We remember both of them on the podcast.
James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Freddy Gray.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.
We are hosting a Coffee House Shots live tomorrow (15th July) at The Emmanuel Centre in Westminster. Join Tim Shipman, Michael Gove and Isabel Hardman to debate: Are the Tories toast? Click here for tickets.
For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.
Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk
