This is the week that Boris Johnson is meant to rally the world against climate change. But the British prime minister goes into COP26 distracted by an acrimonious row with France about fish.
Sniping and rivalry between Britain and France is becoming a serious international problem. The G7 summit in June took place against the backdrop of another Franco-British dispute — on that occasion about Northern Ireland.
Every minor disagreement between the two countries seems to escalate into an exchange of threats and insults. The underlying problem is not fish, or Northern Ireland. It is Brexit. Put simply, Johnson needs it to succeed and Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, needs it to fail.