French Minister for European Affairs names her cat Brexit
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Update: Despite reports to the contrary, French Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau has not named her cat “Brexit”, her office said on Tuesday
France’s minister for European affairs was reported saying that she has named her cat “Brexit” on account of its indecisive nature, The Independent reports.
Nathalie Loiseau, the French’s government’s lead in EU exit talks, told Le Journal du Dimanche that her feline friend meows loudly to be let out each morning, but then refuses to go outside when she opens the door.
The joke at British expense – an allusion to Britain’s inability to decide when and how it wants to leave the European Union – was picked up by numerous London-based newspapers and American media outlets, and amplified on social media.
But it was in fact just a joke as “Brexit” the cat – unlike the cat thought up as an experiment by Austrian physicist Erwin Schroedinger – is neither alive, nor dead. It simply does not exist.
“It was a joke, obviously,” Loiseau told Radio J on Sunday afternoon. “I don’t have a cat.”
The minister has taken a tough and sometimes provocative line in Brexit negotiations so far, proactively shooting down UK proposals and warning of the risks of a no-deal Brexit. Her approach has echoed the tone set by her president Emmanuel Macron, who has warned he could block an Article 50 extension if the UK does not come up with a new choice or decision justifying it. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has taken a minister tone, asking: “Why would we extend these discussions? The discussion on Article 50, that is done and dusted. We have the withdrawal agreement, it is there. That is the question asked and we are waiting for the answer to that.”
Ms Loiseau is set to be the top candidate for Emmanuel Macron’s party in the upcoming European Parliament elections, where she will go head-to-head with Marie Le Pen, who is hoping to lead a far-right insurgency.
