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THE LAST TWO days have been the biggest yet for the new British Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson has met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin and Paris respectively.
The sight of Johnson pressing the flesh with leaders of the EU’s largest two nations was absolute catnip to the British media, with some perhaps getting a little carried away.
First, it was a frenzy over Merkel saying it could take “two years or 30 days” to find a solution that would avoid the backstop taking effect.
That was interpreted by many as a slight window of opportunity.
Today, some of the papers have wildly different takes on how Johnson’s meeting with Macron went yesterday.
So what happened at the Paris encounter?
Just like Johnson’s visit to Berlin, it was quite a cordial affair. As of course such meetings often are when one of the leaders has been newly appointed.
During their press conference in the Élysée Palace, Macron was eager not to undermine Merkel by throwing cold water on her referencing of a timeline.
“We need to try to have a useful month,” Macron said, adding it was possible to “find something intelligent” in the next 30 days.
He added, however: “I want to be very clear. In the coming month, we will not find a new withdrawal agreement that is far from the fundamentals.”
So while Macron was open to the idea of finding a new solution, he was clear that the backstop must still be part of any plan.
But this is being interpreted in different ways in today’s UK front pages.
The fact that Macron didn’t totally poo-poo the idea of a new solution is being taken as a victory for Johnson by some.
With others essentially saying that nothing has really changed.
Neil Henderson / Twitter
Neil Henderson / Twitter / Twitter
The staunchly pro-Johnson Telegraph goes with the line that civil servants have been told to come up with an alternative to the backstop, adding that “Macron says Withdrawal Agreement can be amended”.
While Macron seemed open to the idea of a new solution, the headline leaves out his insistence that the backstop must be part of any agreement even if a new solution is found.
The paper used a picture of Johnson with his foot on some furniture in the palace.
The photo had social media pretty exercised about Johnson’s apparent lack of manners and decorum etc, but the video of what happened showed it was just little joke between Macron and Johnson.
Neil Henderson / Twitter
Neil Henderson / Twitter / Twitter
The pro-Brexit tabloid featured a photograph of Johnson with his arms raised, calling it a ‘Brexit Victory Salute!’.
The paper cited Macron’s openness to a new solution as being a ‘victory’ but it didn’t focus on his insistence that the backstop must remain.
Other papers had that as their central point, with several quoting Macron as saying the backstop was “indispensable”
They were:
Neil Henderson / Twitter
Neil Henderson / Twitter / Twitter
One paper was perhaps somewhere in between…
The Times Scotland / Twitter
The Times Scotland / Twitter / Twitter
The Times came at it from the angle that both Macron and Merkel seemed open to doing a deal but didn’t go so far as to call that a victory for Johnson, rather noting that the work is still ahead.
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Sounds like a Stalker’s Paradise.
Why not have speed date flight where everyone moves every few minutes. After the seat belt light is switched off of course.
Sweet, whole row to myself. (At least on flights that aren’t fully booked)
Well if you look like an egg I wouldn’t wonder why :)
Oh Peter. That made me laugh so much. Thanks for brightening my day.
Hilarious Peter. Ha
Just puta photo of a fat guy with red birthmark on face… You will then have 3 seats to yourself,
As cabin crew myself…..are you effing serious?????? KLM must be desperate for passengers!
A sure way to be seated next to a cat owner, stalker, rapist or axe murderer…..fortunately airport security should sort out the last one!!!!
Could we get the opposite? A chance to veto who can sit beside us based on profile…
“Hannibal Lector wishes to sit beside you. Allow Yes/No?” I would be interested in knowing the girth of the passenger.
Novel idea bound to catch on
For people who hate the idea just opt not to participate but wouldn’t it be great if it meant all the chatty people would seek each other out and leave the book readers, sleepers, thinkers alone
Good point :-)
Was at a Salesforce event at September, KLM had presentation about there company and leveraging social media. Unbelievable stuff, they really showed what companies can do when you think different. Well done KLM, keep up the good work.
Fail..
No way to let KLM share my FB profile to any passengers that I dont know and totally stranger to me….
I fly KLM long-haul regularly – will now consider changing carriers.
Are they serious? Sad….. What is the world coming to?
Sexy…
I am sure it would be an empty flight if people saw that Salman Rushdie was aboard!
While it’s nice to meet interesting people and I like my social media, isn’t this just a tad creepy :-o
So if you don’t pick your seat, the person beside you will assume you have, awkward, no?
Do we get to see the FB profile of the pilot ?
Like Irene said, it is just an option. Nobody will be forced to select a ‘flight companion’! Remember, there are millions of people out there who would genuinely love this. We all know the type – they have over a thousand facebook friends, they follow anything and everything on Twitter and they’re likely helping G+ simply by logging in. Whether you like it or not people can be quite voyeuristic. That’s the inconvenient truth for you lot who panned it straight away. Social media is a tool for spying and allowing others to spy on us. If any of you ever do fly with KLM, let me know whether you were tempted to tick the box or not. I know where my money is!
Personally, I think KLM have really put a lot of thought into this, and it is something that just might offer further insights to our behaviour with social media. Well done KLM, keep up the good work.
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