Andy Burnham and Emmanuel Macron meet as Bayeux Tapestry unveiled

{"text":[[{"start":13.177,"text":"Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Emmanuel Macron met for the first time on Wednesday evening for the unveiling of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, following its historic loan from France."}],[{"start":25.46,"text":"King Charles and Queen Camilla joined the two leaders — and their wives Marie-France van Heel and Brigitte Macron — to view the 70-metre embroidered linen cloth in a display of cordial Anglo-French relations."}],[{"start":39.68,"text":"Paris approved an unprecedented agreement to return the 950-year-old tapestry to England so it could be exhibited at the London institution while its permanent home in Bayeux, Normandy, undergoes refurbishment."}],[{"start":51.92,"text":"King Charles, speaking at points in French during the unveiling, said the loan of the “70 metres of memory and artistry” was a “precious symbol of trust at a time when trust seems to be in short supply between nations”."}],[{"start":64.951,"text":"The 11th-century artwork, thought to have been stitched by nuns in Canterbury, records the Norman Conquest, including the 1066 Battle of Hastings. It will be on display from September 10 until next July."}],[{"start":77.632,"text":"Macron’s visit marks an important early diplomatic test for Burnham, whose political interests to date have been markedly focused on domestic rather than international affairs."}],[{"start":87.806,"text":"The two leaders are due to hold bilateral talks on the “shared challenges faced by the UK and France” in Downing Street on Thursday, with small boat crossings, the wars in Ukraine and Iran, UK-EU relations, wider defence co-operation, trade and energy set to be on the agenda."}],[{"start":104.706,"text":"The pair will then have lunch with their spouses in Number 10. Burnham’s wife, a marketing executive who was raised in the Netherlands and Belgium, speaks fluent French."}],[{"start":114.021,"text":"Macron’s visit is viewed as the latest sign that Burnham will pursue his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to “reset” UK-EU relations, which have improved since the lows of the fraught post-Brexit years."}],[{"start":126.451,"text":"But tensions remain between the two sides ahead of a crucial summit now expected in early November to cement the reset, which includes a deal to remove border checks on food and the reintegration of EU and UK carbon markets."}],[{"start":141.15,"text":"Macron’s trip marks the first visit to the UK by a foreign leader since Burnham took office in July. Burnham’s first overseas trip was to Ukraine last month."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":149.929,"text":"Ahead of the unveiling of the Bayeux Tapestry, Burnham said its return to England was “a landmark moment in the history of our two nations”, adding: “As we celebrate our shared heritage, President Macron and I will continue to strengthen the relationship between our two nations.”"}],[{"start":164.48,"text":"While Macron has been heavily praised for getting the trilateral accord between London, Paris and the British Museum over the line, former UK prime minister Baroness Theresa May has revealed that the idea of the tapestry loan originally hailed from Britain, not France."}],[{"start":181.979,"text":"May said she raised the possibility of the loan to Macron at a summit at the Sandhurst military academy in January 2018."}],[{"start":189.563,"text":"“It was actually at a summit I had with President Macron when I raised the issue of the tapestry coming to the UK and he said ‘Yes’,” she told a BBC Radio 4 documentary, The Power of the Bayeux Tapestry."}],[{"start":202.25,"text":"“It was a really exciting moment. As far as I’m concerned, it was a British proposal to the French.” The idea went cold for years as UK-French relations soured over Brexit, followed by the pandemic."}],[{"start":213.12,"text":"In the documentary, based on the FT Weekend Magazine piece of the same name, British Museum chair George Osborne said the King had also been a key figure in reviving the idea of the loan."}],[{"start":224.8,"text":"“I think the King was pretty persuasive with the French president,” Osborne said. “President Macron said to me that King Charles was very important in persuading me this would work and would be a meaningful act of friendship.”"}],[{"start":235.92,"text":"Osborne and museum director Nicholas Cullinan were among the officials present at the reception celebrating the tapestry’s unveiling on Wednesday evening."}],[{"start":244.955,"text":"The Élysée Palace was approached for comment. But Catherine Pégard, French culture minister, said: “I think the president of the republic played a distinctive role in having the determination to make this happen."}],[{"start":256.48,"text":"“He had a vision of bringing French and British perspectives closer together, which was absolutely necessary after the somewhat complicated Brexit period. For him, it was essential to bring this project to fruition.”"}],[{"start":274.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788399085_8740.mp3"}