Why can’t France’s middle class learn to love Britain?

Many of us British Francophiles discover early on in our relationship with la belle France that there is an undercurrent of – well, to put it bluntly, Anglophobia. It is not quite blotted out by French geniality and (usually) courtesy towards les Rosbifs individually. When we first went to France many years ago, we were frequently taken to task about burning Joan of Arc or sinking the French fleet at Mers el Kébir. Today, it takes the form of irritation at Brexit (with a confident expectation that it will bring disaster), and competition over which country has the most (or least) cases of Covid.

One rarely comes across crude Anglophobia. It takes a bantering tone in personal conversation, with many jocular references to ‘la perfide ’Albion’ – what in sensitive circles are considered ‘microaggressions’. The media, especially those on the left like Le Monde, report British bad news with relish, but minimise successes, whether in the economy, the arts, theatre, cinema, architecture, design or sport.