Prime Minister Liz Truss has insisted she is not moving her administration closer to Europe - as she hailed French president Emmanuel Macron as a "friend" at a one-day summit in Prague. Ms Truss, who has faced a torrid few days at home which included backbench revolts and a fractious party conference, sought to present the UK as a crucial ally in Europe against authoritarianism and as a staunch backer of Ukraine at the Czech summit.
But she was resolute that her attendance at the summit, alongside EU and some non-EU states, did not signal a fundamental shift in her perspective on the bloc. She told broadcasters on Thursday evening: "What this is about is working with all of our European partners to challenge [Vladimir] Putin's appalling war in Ukraine, but also to work together on the issues that we all face, huge energy costs, rising inflation and also migration across our continent.
"So it is very important that we work with our neighbours and allies to face down Putin but also deal with the issues we face." She denied that her attendance at the meeting, which will include face-to-face talks with the French president and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, signalled any hopes of easing UK-EU trade as a way to boost growth.
