PRESIDENT Macron was the first foreign leader Andy Burnham met in Downing Street since he became prime minister.

Burnham is at the beginning of his stint, Macron at the end of his. A new French president will be elected next May.

During his years in office Macron has, largely successfully, worked to position France as the leading power in Europe, not just in the EU.

That is particularly the case with European defence. Macron has increased France’s expenditure on defence by 43% in the last decade.

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However, if you were to believe the English media, Britain has played the leading role in European defence, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

One of the worst culprits in this misleading version was Keir Starmer, perpetually running about maintaining the British government’s delusions of grandeur.

He made 49 international trips to 33 countries during his premiership, earning him the nickname ‘Never here Keir’.

He invented the notion of the invisible ‘coalition of the willing’ and masqueraded as its leader, brushing aside France’s pivotal role.

Playing that imaginary role to maintain Britain’s world power status left Burnham with a serious financial headache.

Starmer committed Britain to raising defence expenditure to 3% of GDP by 2030.

The........

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