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07 November 2019 / David Burrows
Issue: 7863 / Categories: Opinion , Brexit
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Brexit from the other side of La Manche

10896
David Burrows reflects on Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité and the French citoyen and citoyenne

One of the more remarkable facts about life in France, since the 2016 referendum result, is the lack of any rancour against the British and at what Brexit may do to Europe. Perfidious Albion may be as perfidious as ever. The British cannot be relied upon to comply with treaty terms. But the French still seem to have a continuing affection for us, for humour anglais, and to be as besotted as ever with the royal family. Daily you pass maisons de la presse (newsagents) with magazines in the window with pictures of Princes William and Harry, and their wives and children, and of Princess Diana. And this is despite the fact that France is almost aggressively secular, with republican roots which run deep following the 1789 Revolution.

How has the British constitution held up against Brexit as compared with how it might have been had the French decided to leave? How might

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NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
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