Why would the French be jealous, resentful and fearful of the British?

The French president Emmanuel Macron was always going to end up an arch-enemy of the pro-Brexit British press.

His desire for deeper European integration doesn't quite fit with the desire by Britain's Brexit cheerleaders such as the Daily Express and the Daily Mail to see the UK wash its hands of the EU as soon as possible.

So the Daily Mail's latest attack on the French President, by columnist Dominc Sandbrook shouldn't come as a surprise.

Sandbrook was particularly unhappy about Macron's alleged plan to block Britain's departure from the EU so that the country would simply have to reverse its decision through a second referendum. 

Macron was a "foreign bully" and a "Parisian pygmy" and "a classic over-privileged Gallic politician", who would meet his downfall at the hands of the British just like his hero Napolean did at Waterloo and Trafalgar, the writer said.

Yes, absolute xenophobic 'drivel' as many people pointed out.

The writer also seemed bizarrely taken a back and angered that France's Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau for suggesting that a no-deal would be better for France than a deal that would penalise French businesses - making reference to Theresa May's so-called Chequers plan that the EU has rejected.

Has he forgotten that there are two sides involved in the Brexit talks? Just like the British Prime Minister Theresa May, who coined the phrase "no deal is better than a bad deal", the French are simply looking out for their interests.  

That's what happens in negotiations.

This is not the French hoping the worst for Britain or trying to punish the British people, it's just the French making sure they limit the negative effects of Brexit.

There is the view in Britain that the French are trying to profit from Brexit at the UK's expense. But the French are entitled to protect their interests and also compete with other EU nations like Germany or Ireland for the potential benefits of any fallout, hence their attempts to make Paris a more attractive place for bankers than Frankfurt or Dublin.

 "We don't have a predatory vision when it comes to Brexit," France's Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told The Local recently. "It's not about taking jobs from the UK, it's about (making France) more attractive - all in the framework of fair competition."

French are 'fearful, resentful and jealous of British'

But what was perhaps the most bizarre line of the paranoid jingoistic rant was the statement Macron was "pandering to the jealousy, resentment and fear with which so many French men and women peer anxiously across the Channel."

Of all the French men and French women I have met, I can honestly say I have never met one who was either jealous, resentful or scared of British people.

And that was before Britain got bogged down in the shambles that has been Brexit.

Brits in France will no doubt have been asked many times by their compatriots back in the UK 'what the French make of Brexit?'

It's always a difficult question to answer, not because opinions are divided, but because the French just don't often talk about it.

The fact is, most of the time Britain's ungainly exit from the EU is just not top of their list of priorities and that goes for the press and the politicians too. The French people who do bring up the subject of Brexit are for the most part bemused, confused and relieved they are not the country ripping itself apart.

That view was shared by many on Twitter, with one person summing the French view up perfectly.

"They just don't get it. It's just one of those odd English things, like cricket, jelly or Morris dancing," said Kevin Harigan.

As Brexit reaches its denouement over the coming weeks and months before Britain and the EU go their separate ways on March 29th, French interest will no doubt increase, but Dominic Sandbrook, the Daily Mail and people in Britain should know that it won't be provoking any fear, resentment or jealousy on this side of the Channel.

Pity, perhaps.