Day: January 20, 2018

    Emmanuel Macron says it will be possible for Britain to secure a bespoke trade deal but only if the UK accepts certain preconditions. The French president said that while a special solution could be secured, full access to the single market without accepting its rules was not feasible. The comments were made during an interview recorded for BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. Macron has been in the UK for his first visit since taking office. On Thursday, at the end of a joint press conference with Theresa May at Sandhurst military training college, he rejected the idea of a tailored Brexit deal for Britain’s financial services sector. Macron said full access to EU markets would not be possible unless the UK pays into the EU budget and accepts all its rules. ...

    Normally, those asking for a signature from a royal receive a polite, No, I can’t. Though Meghan did pose for at least one selfie with a teen admirer during the visit. Caitlin, who had been waiting in the grounds of Cardiff Castle with hundreds of other well-wishers, didn’t mind the slight misspelling. I don’t really care, she told reporters. My heart is still racing. I’ve never got a royal autograph before. This is going to make everyone jealous. She thought it was great. She is so welcoming. She just seemed so easy with the crowd, Johnston said. Radio host Josh Andrews, 25, had painted a red and gold crown on his face and that seemed to work out for him, too. It’s a bit of Markle Sparkle, he said. I just wanted to see if we could get her to come over. She went, ...

    Boris Johnson’s idea of a bridge across the English Channel to boost economic links with France has been dismissed as far-fetched by a French minister, as No 10 distanced itself. The UK shipping industry also poured scorn on the notion, saying: Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world’s busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges. And the Foreign Secretary was accused of a masterstroke in diversion at the moment that the Brexit vote he inspired was pulling up the drawbridge from the major economies on the continent. The backlash came after Mr Johnson floated the prospect of a crossing at Thursday’s UK-France summit, saying it was ridiculous that the two countries were linked by the Channel Tunnel only. His aides claimed that, when he...