Macron: Europe must end excessive dependencies on both the US and China
Macron says European countries must end their “excessive dependencies on both the US and China”.
He suggests China’s use of subsidies are a threat to fair trade.
And he says that President Trump’s trade war is also an attack on WTO rules.
He says the European democratic model is as under threat from “foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media”.
UPDATE: Macron said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China. “We want an open world. We want to co-operate, but not to depend,” he said.
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Updated at 12.45 EDT
Key events
8h ago
Early evening summary
8h ago
Visitors to Wales could be charged £1.30 per night from 2027 after Senedd passes tourist tax bill
9h ago
Institute for Fiscal Studies says having annual tax on wealth wouldn’t be ‘sensible’
9h ago
Macron: Europe must end excessive dependencies on both the US and China
9h ago
Macron says UK and France have duty to tackle illegal migration ‘with humanity, solidarity and firmness’
9h ago
Macon says UK and France have ‘special responsibility’ for security of Europe
9h ago
Macron calls for ceasefire in Gaza, saying ‘dehumunisation’ happening there cannot be justified
9h ago
Macron says Europeans will never abandon Ukraine
9h ago
Macron says democracies now under attack ‘on daily basis’
10h ago
British Museum director says Bayeux Tapestry loan is ‘exactly kind of international partnership’ museum should champion
10h ago
Bayeux Tapestry to go on display in UK for 11 months from next autumn, Starmer and Macron announce
10h ago
President Macron to address parliament
11h ago
Lammy tells MPs UK will take further measures against Israel if ceasefire does not happen soon
11h ago
Labour says James McMurdock affair shows Reform UK can’t be trusted to uphold ‘high standards in public life’
11h ago
Thomas says he is sympathetic to inquiry’s call for permanent compensation body to be set up for scandals like this
11h ago
Relatives of Post Office scandal victims to get compensation if they suffered, as inquiry recommends, MPs told
11h ago
Post Office minister Gareth Thomas says government ‘very sympathetic’ to inquiry’s recommendations
12h ago
Sats results for schools rise, but still have not reached pre-Covid levels, DfE figures show
12h ago
Rishi Sunak takes job with Goldman Sachs
12h ago
James McMurdock says he no longer intends to return to Reform UK after inquiry into Covid loans concludes
13h ago
Resident doctors in England vote to strike over pay
13h ago
Government announces 50 road and rail upgrades, including train link between Bristol and Portishead
13h ago
Williams says compensation should also be available to family members affected by Post Office scandal
13h ago
Williams says having four compensation schemes was mistake, and problems will persist even if recommendations adopted
13h ago
Williams questions fairness of some of compensation payments paid under Horizon Shortfall scheme
14h ago
Williams says he wants government to say if it is accepting his recommendations within three months
14h ago
Williams says evidence of human impact of Post Office scandal ‘profoundly disturbing’
14h ago
Wyn Williams explains why Post Office inquiry human impact and compensation report being published first
14h ago
Around 1,000 people convicted on basis of Post Office Horizon evidence, and for some life became ‘close to unbearable’, report says
14h ago
Contemplating suicide was ‘common experience’ for victims of Post Office IT scandal, report says
14h ago
At least 10,000 people affected by Post Office IT scandal, inquiry report says
14h ago
Post Office scandal may have led to more than 13 suicides, inquiry finds
14h ago
Badenoch backs Tebbit over his ‘cricket test’, saying he, like her, wanted migrants to come to UK ‘because they love it’
15h ago
Risks from climate, pensions and bonds leave UK public finances ‘vulnerable’, OBR says
15h ago
UK government backs French police immobilising small boats, minister says
15h ago
Tebbit was ‘hero of modern Conservatism’, says Boris Johnson
16h ago
Eluned Morgan says Welsh Labour taking Reform UK ‘very seriously’ after 2nd poll says it could win Senedd elections
17h ago
Post Office Horizon IT inquiry to publish first volume of its final report
17h ago
Tebbit in his own words
17h ago
Badenoch leads tributes to Norman Tebbit, ‘icon’ of Thatcherism, praising his ‘stoicism and courage’
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Early evening summary
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has promised to deliver on measures to cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel ahead of a summit with Keir Starmer. As PA Media reports, Macron said the issue of irregular migration was a “burden” to both countries. The UK has pushed for tougher action from the French authorities on the beaches along the Channel coast and also hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent. In exchange, the UK would accept asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link. Speaking to MPs and peers in Parliament as part of his state visit to the UK, Macron said:
In this unstable world, hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate.
But we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life.
France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
President Macron laying a wreath at the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square this afternoon, after his address to MPs and peers in parliament. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/PAShare
Visitors to Wales could be charged £1.30 per night from 2027 after Senedd passes tourist tax bill
Bethan McKernan
Bethan McKernan is the Guardian’s Wales correspondent.
Overnight visitors to Wales could pay a tourist tax from 2027 after the Senedd passed new legislation aimed at curbing overtourism.
The law, which could raise as much as £33m a year if widely adopted, will give councils the option to tax people staying at hotels £1.30 a night, or 75p at campsites and hostels.
The legislation passed 37-13 in the Senedd during a final debate today after Plaid Cymru lent its support.
“We believe it is reasonable for visitors to contribute towards infrastructure and services integral to their experience, as they do in so many other parts of the world,” finance secretary and former first minister Mark Drakeford said in a statement.
The charges, which are expected to come into force in 2027 at the earliest, are subject to VAT. Children under 18 will be exempt at hostels and campsites.
So far, Cardiff, Anglesey and Gwynedd have shown interest in introducing the new levy, despite opposition from some businesses worried it could deter visitors. The Welsh Tourism Alliance has said that the wording of the bill means councils will not have to spend the money raised on tourism infrastructure.
Impact assessments vary wildly: the boost to the economy could be between £7.3m – £10.8m, according to one study, but could also lead to the loss of 390 jobs.
Several holiday destinations across Europe have introduced visitor taxes in recent years in a bid to clampdown on overtourism and raise funds to manage and improve local infrastructure. In the UK, Manchester implemented a tourist levy in 2023, and Liverpool, Mournemoth, Pool and Christchurch followed suit last year. A Scottish tourist tax comes into effect in July 2026.
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Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is meeting Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, and Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, during his trip. A courtesy meeting with opposition leaders is relatively routine when a European leader visits another European country. But Macron is not meeting Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader. Given that Farage’s party only had five MPs at the last election (down to four now – see 2.10pm), and that most EU leaders like Macron regard Farage as a malign threat, not a potential partner, the snub is not at all surprising. But Farage’s party is leading in the polls, and Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, has said Macron should have offered a meeting.
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Institute for Fiscal Studies says having annual tax on wealth wouldn’t be ‘sensible’
There are growing calls at Westminster for a wealth tax. Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies has issued a statement from Stuart Adam, one of its senior economists, saying that, while there is a case for getting more tax from the wealthy, including by “reforming capital income taxes in order to properly tax high returns”, a wealth tax would be a bad idea.
Adam explains:
It is difficult to make the case that an annual tax on wealth would be a sensible part of the tax system even in principle (see further information here). Taxing the same wealth every year would penalise saving and investment.
In practice, implementing a wealth tax would be difficult. It would require the government to set up a new administrative apparatus to value wealth – and valuation would be extremely difficult for some assets, such as private businesses: it is much easier to observe and tax the stream of income they generate. An annual wealth tax would need to apply broadly to all assets to ensure that it was not easy to avoid. Such a tax could raise significant revenue if it applied to the bulk of the UK’s wealth – that would include the homes and pensions of the middle class. Trying to raise large amounts of revenue from only the very wealthy would make the UK a less attractive place for those people to live.
International experience of annual wealth taxes is not encouraging: they have been abandoned in most of the developed countries that previously had them.
There are strong reasons to radically reform how we currently tax the sources and uses of wealth; this includes reforming capital income taxes in order to properly tax high returns. An annual wealth tax would be a poor substitute for doing that.
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Macron confirms the Bayeux Tapestry announcement, which gets a loud round of applause.
He thanks King Charles for his hospitality. And he ends:
Finally, we meet again, and let’s be sure that we will meet again for years and decades, because we are linked by our geography, by our past, but we are linked by our common future.
And the only way to overcome the challenges we have, the challenges for our times, would be to go together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.
Macron gets a standing ovation.
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Macron suggests new rules are needed to protect children in Europe from the dangers social media.
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Macron: Europe must end excessive dependencies on both the US and China
Macron says European countries must end their “excessive dependencies on both the US and China”.
He suggests China’s use of subsidies are a threat to fair trade.
And he says that President Trump’s trade war is also an attack on WTO rules.
He says the European democratic model is as under threat from “foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media”.
UPDATE: Macron said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China. “We want an open world. We want to co-operate, but not to depend,” he said.
Share
Updated at 12.45 EDT
Macron says he is the first EU head of state to make a state visit since Brexit.
And he praises Starmer for restoring trust in that relationship.
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Macron says UK and France have duty to tackle illegal migration ‘with humanity, solidarity and firmness’
Macron says the UK and France also work together on the climate.
And the two countries will cooperate to tackle illegal migration, he says.
We cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted in criminal networks, to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life.
France and the United Kingdom have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and firmness.
The decisions that we will take at our bilateral summit will respond to our aims for cooperation and tangible results on these major issues.
Very clearly, we task our minister of domestic affairs [Home Office ministers, in UK terms] to work very closely together, and I want to salute the very close coordination and cooperation.
But Macron also says there will only be “a lasting and effective solution” with action at the European level.
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Macon says UK and France have ‘special responsibility’ for security of Europe
Macron says the UK-France pact on defence and security is getting stronger.
And he says he and Keir Starmer will take this further at their summit this week.
There is an expectation in Europe that the two countries have “a special responsibility for the security of the continent”, he says.
UPDATE: Macron said:
Our two countries, the only European nuclear weapon states, the leading armed forces of the continent, together accounting for 40% of European military budgets, both fully shoulder the responsibility when it comes to European security.
And we are faced with new threats, with aggressive nuclear powers, with sometimes hesitating alliances, and the return of major conflict on our continent. This is why, in two days, our summit is so important, and the announcement we prepared so historical.
Macron said there was an expectation that the UK and France, “faced with revisionist neighbours” have a “special responsibility for the security of the continent”.
And he said, to paraphrase William Pitt, it was time to “make sure that not only our two countries will save themselves by their own exertions, but also that we will save Europe by our example and our solidarity”.
Pitt said: “England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by her example.”
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Updated at 12.29 EDT
Macron says the UK and France cannot tolerate the threat that would be posed by Iran having a nuclear weapon. They will work for a deal “which ensures international monitoring of Iran’s nuclear programme over the long term, thereby preserving the international non-proliferation framework as a foundation for collective security”.
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Macron calls for ceasefire in Gaza, saying ‘dehumunisation’ happening there cannot be justified
Macron says the UK and France are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It is a matter of absolute urgency to end the suffering of the hostages and of the Gazans.
A war without end and without a strategic objective poses a huge threat to the region and our collective security.
Today, a dehumanisation is occurring there that can never be justified together.
We are aware that the political way out is crucial, and I believe in the future of the two-state solution as a basis for regional security architecture, which will enable Israel to live in peace and security alongside its neighbours.
But I want to be clear: calling today for a ceasefire in Gaza without any conditions is just telling to the rest of the world that for us, as Europeans, there is no double standard.
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Macron says Europeans will never abandon Ukraine
Macron says, as permanent members of the UN security council, the UK and France are “deeply committed to multilateralism, the United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference”.
He says the two countries have to defend multilaterism and protect the international order.
Turning to Ukraine, he says:
Together we worked very hard during the past few years in order to stand with the Ukrainian people, just helping them to resist.
We were right, and we are right, and because every time Vladimir Putin’s Russia advances in Ukraine, the threat moves closer to us all.
We will never accept the theory that might is right. And I want to be clear, this is why, together with you, Mr Prime Minister, we decided to launch last February this coalition. And this coalition was just a signal that Europeans will never abandon Ukraine, never.
And whatever the decisions could be elsewhere, we will fight till the very last minute in order to get the ceasefire, in order to start the negotiations to build this robust and sustainable peace, because this is our security and our principles together which are at stake in Ukraine.
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