It isn’t just that Britain loves to hate France; for entire quarters of the press and the political sphere, the whole fun in the relationship between the two countries comes from the certainty that France also loves to hate Britain. We’ve had the best of times and the worst of times together, and for hundreds of years, we have been the best of frenemies.
“The French are always grumpy in October,” leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted earlier this week, “the anniversaries of Trafalgar and Agincourt upset them.” The spiky remark, obviously intended to offend those on the other side of the Channel, was childish but not out of the ordinary.
It was also incorrect; though it is true that Paris isn’t currently on the best of terms with London, it has nothing to do with archers, mud, or wars long won and lost. In fact, the post-Brexit battle between the two countries was largely one-sided until recently; Fleet Street’s tabloids yearned for a scuffle, but they were the only ones.
