David Cameron was today set for tense talks with Francois Hollande as the French President made his first visit to the UK since his election victory.
The Prime Minister was set to tell Mr Hollande that the UK will block new governance arrangements for the eurozone unless Britain can renegotiate its relationship with Brussels.
Mr Cameron has previously clashed with the Socialist leader over City regulation, the euro crisis and high-income taxation and refused to meet him when he visited London during his presidential campaign.
He also caused outrage in France by saying he would “roll out the red carpet” for any French business seeking to flee to Britain to escape higher taxes under the new president.
The Prime Minister was expected to reiterate to Mr Hollande that the UK will demand “safeguards” to protect its position when eurozone leaders draw up new governance arrangements. He was also set to tell him that Britain would use the talks to demand a renegotiation of Britain’s position in the EU.
A Downing Street source today said the pair had already held one bilateral meeting in America where the “rapport was good”. The source added: “It’s no secret that we don’t agree with the Elysée about everything — whoever the leader is. I don’t think this is going to be a particularly fraught meeting.”
Following a 90-minute working lunch at No 10, Mr Hollande was set to have a 30-minute audience with the Queen at Windsor Castle without the use of an interpreter.
