THE French President has said he hopes the UK can find “stability” soon, following the resignation of Liz Truss after just 44 days in office.
Speaking at an EU summit just hours after the Prime Minister announced she was quitting, Emmanuel Macron told reporters: “I want to say that France, as a friend of the British people hopes, above all for stability in the current context, which is one of war, tensions over energy and a wider crisis.
“It is very important that the United Kingdom soon regains political stability, that’s all I hope for.”
Truss on Thursday became the UK’s shortest-ever Prime Minister after a brief but chaotic spell in the top job.
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She was humiliated by the disaster of her mini-budget, which proposed cutting taxes for the wealthiest by increasing state borrowing, and sacked her chancellor and close friend Kwasi Kwarteng in an attempt to dodge criticism for its failure.
On Wednesday night, party discipline in the Tory party collapsed almost entirely as rumours swirled her whips office had quit before appearing to walk back their resignations – which were reportedly announced in sweary outbursts in the Commons lobby.
Truss famously said the “jury’s out” on whether the French President was a “friend or foe” during the leadership contest – harking back to the ancient English rivalry with their southern neighbours but also an allusion to ongoing hostilities over migrants crossing the English Channel.
Ireland’s premier has issued his best wishes to Liz Truss upon her resignation and said that a resolution to the Northern Ireland Protocol dispute was now “ever more urgent”.
“I had a number of opportunities to engage with Prime Minister Liz Truss during her brief period as Prime Minister and I convey my best wishes to her and her family, following today’s announcement of her resignation,” Taoiseach Micheal Martin said in a statement.
“Working together to protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and to support peace and stability in Northern Ireland continue to be vital responsibilities for the British and Irish Governments, particularly now in the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.
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“Substantive EU-UK engagement to reach agreement on outstanding issues around implementation of the Protocol is ever more urgent.
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe said reaching an agreement between the EU and the UK on the policy – which Truss wanted to junk - would be “a really strong foundation to a far stronger and more positive-looking relationship between the European Union, the United Kingdom and Ireland”.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden – who had previously criticised Truss’s economic programme – thanked the outgoing Prime Minister for her “partnership”.
He said: “The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change.
“I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.
“We will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
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