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PARIS: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father Stanley confirmed plans on Thursday (December 31) to seek French citizenship, as the free movement of Britons in the EU comes to an end under the Brexit pact delivered by your son.
Speaking to France’s RTL radio in French, Stanley Johnson said: “This is not about becoming French. If I understand correctly, I am French! My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French, just like her grandfather.
“For me it’s a matter of getting what I already have and I’m very happy about that,” added the 80-year-old.
The father of the politician who ended Britain’s 47-year membership in the EU was one of the first officials appointed in Brussels after Britain joined the EU in 1973.
He worked for the European Commission and was a member of the European Parliament.
He initially campaigned against leaving the EU before changing his mind a year after Britain voted to leave the union in 2016.
“I will always be European, that’s for sure,” he told RTL.
“You cannot say to the English: you are not European. Europe is more than the single market, it is more than the European Union.”
“That said, having a link like that with the EU is important,” he said, apparently referring to an EU passport.
MORE BRITISH IN SEARCH OF FRENCH NATIONALITY
Johnson senior’s announcement was not well received in some sectors of British society.
Chris Rennard, a Liberal Democrat in the House of Lords, said Stanley Johnson deserved the “Bronze Neck of the Year Award … for being able to preserve his personal benefits of EU citizenship through a passport application. French”.
“This is something that his son Boris is denying as of tonight to 67 million UK citizens.”
Billy Kelleher, a member of the European Parliament for Ireland, which has the EU’s only land border with Great Britain, linked Stanley Johnson’s decision to the UK’s withdrawal from the continent-wide Erasmus student exchange program.
“So when Mr. Stanley Johnson is enjoying a glass of wine in France, no British student will enjoy studying there,” Kelleher tweeted.
“Hopefully Boris Johnson’s father can convince him of the wonders of Europe.”
Frenchman Aily Liberation described the news as “a family drama to close the final episode of the good old Brexit saga.”
Stanley Johnson’s plans to find a French passport had already been revealed by his daughter Rachel in a book published in March.
She wrote that her grandmother was born in Versailles and said that if her father received French citizenship, she would like to be French too.
The UK’s tortuous exit from the European Union takes effect at 2300 GMT when an 11-month post-Brexit transition period ends.
The number of British citizens seeking French citizenship has skyrocketed since the 2016 British referendum to leave the EU.
In 2016, the number was 439. The following year, it increased to 1,605.
In 2019, the number of Britons who obtained French nationality increased to 3,827.
