You’ll not get away with this!

 

I never thought I’d be grateful to the rioting Frogs. I am. More on that below. Firstly, the customary collection of this morning’s front pages presented to the people who still buy printed editions. Auntie Beeb’s ‘staff’ made up this headline: “Newspaper headlines: ‘Turmoil in France’ and King’s royal tour ‘axed’“ (link).

One paper’s headline on that site grabbed my attention. Have a guess which one that was! For a very unfunny attempt at joking about the French you need to scroll down right to the end. Yes, the good old Star didn’t get it quite right this morning. Let me know if you think if I’m right or if I’ve lost my sense of humour. 

Saving the best for last, let’s firstly savour how Remain Central reports online on the French riots and the cancellation of King Charles III state visit to France. The headlines already show a nice spin: “King’s state visit to France: Macron feared banquet protests – Chaos reigns on the streets after Charles’s three-day tour is postponed” (link, paywalled).

Anyone who just scans headlines on their smartphone app would think that the riots are about the King’s state visit, or that French royalists were rioting because Macron cancelled the visit. Perhaps that’s just me and my cynical interpretation … Here’s the report’s text underneath those headlines (all emphases are mine):

“The King’s first state visit was abruptly called off after President Macron was warned that it would become the target of an escalating nationwide revolt in France against his pension reforms. The French president said he had asked Charles to postpone the symbolic three-day trip amid fears that it could lead to “detestable” incidents. The move came after a French intelligence agency report said “hate messages” had been circulating on social media along with calls to “spoil” the occasion. The French authorities were particularly concerned that a state banquet at Versailles on Monday night could have become a focal point for the protests over Macron’s move to raise the state retirement age from 62 to 64.” (link, paywalled)

Well, it’s not the planned state visit which made the Frogs riot, is it now! Next, Remain Central provides us with a sweet little historical titbit because even their modern-day readers are historically ignorant:

“The château [Versailles] was a royal palace until the 1789 Revolution and Macron’s aides were concerned that the occasion would be used to portray him as a latter-day Marie-Antoinette, out of touch with ordinary people while France went up in flames. […] In a statement, the Élysée Palace said the decision to postpone the visit had been taken by the French and British governments after a telephone conversation between Macron and the King.” (link, paywalled)

I have no way of finding out if Macron and King Charles actually did have a ‘telephone conversation’ in which Macron told the King he better not come. It might be just another example of the wannabe Napoleon bigging himself up by claiming he and the King chatted and decided together he better not come.

If it indeed took place it might be another hint that King Charles is stepping out of his bounds by personally participating in making decisions which are the province of the Foreign Office and No 10. Someone better tell him that he’s a figurehead, not a player!

This becomes important when we finally – thanks for waiting! – take a look at the headline and accompanying report which grabbed my attention and made me grateful for the French riots. The DT wrote:

“UK’s ‘reset with EU’ in disarray as King’s France visit is cancelled – Monarch’s state trip had been part of Government’s strategy to renew historic ties with Europe following Brexit” (paywalled link)

Words simply failed me! I wonder which editor insisted on putting the ‘UK’s reset with EU’ in the main headline, putting the government spin, that this visit was part of ‘renewing historic ties with Europe’, into the subtitle. I’m sure you’ll agree that these titles alone were sufficient for attention grabbing and my gratefulness because they reveal Whitehall’s and the government’s ‘Rejoin’ strategy. Now see this:

“The King’s first state visit has been cancelled, overshadowing attempts to use the trip to reset UK-European relations post-Brexit. The three-day visit, which had been due to begin on Monday, was postponed at the eleventh hour by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, owing to increasingly violent clashes over his decision to force through pension reforms. The tour of Paris and Bordeaux was designed as part of the Government’s “wider strategy” to foster historic ties with Europe. It was due to coincide with the formal adoption of the Windsor Framework, the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, which was formally signed on Friday.” (paywalled link)

‘Historic ties’ my foot! This planned visit was about easing us into accepting “Rejoin”. The government clearly hoped that they could hide  their Rejoin ambitions behind the razzmatazz of a Royal State Visit. I am making this bold declaration because the ‘government’ had planned to tie it to the NI thingie.

The official claim of ‘fostering historic ties’ could have been served much more easily and convincingly by ‘celebrating’ French-British cooperation in stopping dinghy drivers from getting into the Channel. We’ve paid the Frogs quite a bit of our money for that!

But we must be grateful to the rioters. It’s because of them that this ‘Rejoin’ state visit has been cancelled. It’s because of them that we’ve got yet another proof that Whitehall is hard at work pushing Rejoin, undermining our Leave vote. Obviously, ‘Remain/Rejoin Central’ couldn’t mention this. 

That’s all I have for today. Perhaps this cancellation might ‘foster historical ties’ by making people recall how this Nation withstood the events following the original French Revolution, and the giants whose memories are now under threat by wokeism: the PM William Pitt the Younger, Admiral Nelson and the 1st Duke of Wellington. Have a good weekend.



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