Former French Ambassador Says Britain Will Difficulty Retaining World Power After Brexit

The former French ambassador to London has said Britain will struggle to retain its global influence after Brexit, and has redoubled its attacks on Boris Johnson.

Sylvie Bermann, who was Paris’s highest-ranking diplomat in the UK between 2014 and 2017, caused a stir by calling the prime minister an ‘unrepentant liar’.

Now he has followed the extraordinary barrage, made in his new book, in an interview in which he warned that Britain will have a diminished role on the world stage.

“Why, when you are very dynamic, successful and influential in the EU, why did you decide to leave?” Bermann told AFP at his home in the heart of Paris.

It will be harder. And it will take a lot more effort (by the UK) to have a real influence on the world. “

Sylvie Bermann, who was Paris’s top diplomat to the UK between 2014 and 2017, caused a stir by calling the prime minister an ‘unrepentant liar’

He said this will be particularly difficult in the geopolitical context of the ‘Cold War’ between the US and China, with the two protagonists looking at the EU rather than the UK.

“There is a triangular relationship (China-EU-US) and it is more difficult for the UK to play a role,” he said.

He said Britain’s much touted “special relationship” with the United States “is especially special to the British” rather than the United States.

‘The United States used to use the British as a bridge or relay to the EU. Obviously, it is a role that is now lost ”.

On top of this, there are difficulties in trade relations, as evidenced by Britain’s threat this week to break the terms of the Brexit withdrawal treaty by unilaterally delaying controls on food going to Northern Ireland.

“These are consequences of the choice made in the referendum,” he said.

Bermann acknowledged that in the fight against Covid-19, “the British vaccination campaign is better than the European one. Bravo for that ‘with a lot more people taking the hit than in the big EU member states.

He also claimed that Johnson (pictured together in 2016) would be tempted to ‘hide the Brexit bill under the Covid rug’

But he added: “This is not entirely due to Brexit as the vaccine orders were made while the UK was still subject to European rules.”

In his book, Bermann says that David Cameron “ will always be responsible for Brexit, ” but adds that it also “ probably never would have happened ” if Brexit had not been championed by Johnson.

‘Boris Johnson … is a man who uses insults towards the European Union, starting with the French whom he did not hesitate to call’ turds’. He is above all an unrepentant liar, ” he wrote in the book.

“ It amazes me that everyone made a fuss when I said I was lying because it is well documented, of course, ” he told AFP, referring to how he had created a ‘euro myth’ with sometimes fabulous stories in his period as a correspondent. in Brussels. from the Daily Telegraph.

He said that no one understood at the time of the referendum that the world had entered a ‘new era of populism’ that became apparent with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States in late 2016.

‘That’s why Cameron was so confident (of winning). He told the EU leaders that he would win and until the end he thought it would be ‘Stay’. It was a miscalculation.

Bermann expressed her sadness about Brexit and recalled that when she arrived as an ambassador, London was still excited about the success of the 2012 Olympics, which were seen as a celebration of modern British identity.

“There was a real fascination for the country. Everyone was puzzled by the decision, it was a surprise in Europe but also in China, India, Japan, Singapore ”.

He described Brexit as an “amputation” for the EU.

“The British are sovereign in their decision, but they cannot think that it is not our business, but our business, as it is a divorce and a divorce from us.”