In 2002, I moved from London to what was then a blessedly cheaper Paris. London had its almighty banks; Paris was the “Capital of the 19th Century”. In fact, I felt I was emigrating from modernity.
France then had lower average incomes than the UK and got less foreign direct investment (FDI), partly because of its constant strikes. In foreign policy, France acted as a kind of dissident loner whose views were mostly ignored. The countries are twins: two absurdly over-centralised former empires of 67mn people, forever struggling with deindustrialisation, where the past overhangs the present like a shroud. But, back then, the British twin was dominant.
When Rishi Sunak crosses the Channel on March 10 for the first Franco-British leaders’ summit since 2018, he’ll notice the changes. The country whose contours most resemble Britain is starting to replace it. France is taking over some of the UK’s traditional functions.