Amid continuing tensions among the European powers over how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s zig-zagging policy towards NATO and the Ukraine war, the French president and British prime minister made their latest effort to present an Anglo-French axis.

Yvette Cooper has refused to say whether she agreed with Emmanuel Macron ’s claim that Brexit had made tackling illegal immigration harder. It comes after the French president said voters were “sold a lie” on Brexit when they were told it would “make it possible to fight more effectively against illegal immigration ”.

President Emmanuel Macron has called for Britain and France to move on from Brexit and work “side by side” on issues including migration and defence, declaring “let’s not allow the Channel to grow wider”.

King Charles III will highlight the crucial bonds between the United Kingdom and France in the face of a “multitude of complex threats” as he welcomes President Emmanuel Macron for the first state visit by a European leader since Brexit.