Boris Johnson to meet French foreign minister who called him a liar

The pair will discuss border controls and counter-terrorism

Boris Johnson, the new Foreign Secretary (Getty)

Boris Johnson is set to meet his French counterpart for wide-ranging discussions on border controls, security and Britain’s bilateral relationship with France.

The Thursday meeting could be particularly tense because Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, recently branded Mr Johnson a liar for his role in the European Union referendum campaign.

“During the campaign [Mr Johnson] lied a lot to the British people and now it is he who has his back against the wall,” Mr Ayrault had told Europe 1 radio in late June.

Mr Johnson however later said that Mr Ayrault had sent him a cordial letter “saying how much he looked forward to working together and deepening Anglo-French co-operation in all sorts of areas, and that is what we want to achieve”.

He however joked that there would be “a certain amount of plaster coming off the ceiling of the chancelleries of Europe” in light of the EU referendum result.

The Foreign Secretary was jeered and booed in one of his first speeches outside the French embassy in west London.

Today’s meeting will take place in Paris. Recent terrorist attacks against French targets, as well as the ongoing refugee situation in Paris, are expected to be on the agenda.

The Foreign Office said its French counterpart was handling press enquiries regarding the visit. A spokesperson for the French diplomatic ministry said in a statement:

“This first trip to France by the British Foreign Secretary will offer an opportunity to discuss the most important international issues of the day on which we work closely with the United Kingdom, as well as our bilateral relationship, particularly in the areas of defence, counter-terrorism and border control.”