YP Comment: Pledge to tackle radicalisation

Back in April the Prime Minister was in charge of a government with a small, though workable, majority and riding high in the polls, while Mr Macron was the young upstart hoping to become France’s leader.

Fast forward eight weeks and Mrs May is a much diminished political figure following an unexpectedly bruising election, while the charismatic Mr Macron has been swept to power and his fledgling En Marche! party is on course to win a landslide victory following the first round of parliamentary elections.

Nevertheless, appearing alongside Mr Macron at the Élysée Palace presented the PM with an opportunity to regain control over the political agenda after what has been a chastening few days. Both Britain and France have suffered at the hands of Islamist terrorists and yesterday the two leaders stood united before discussing plans to stop the internet being a safe space for terrorists. These could include fines for social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter if they fail to remove extremist propaganda and don’t step up efforts to combat online radicalisation.

The meeting also showed that Britain and France share common ground ahead of what are likely to be fractious Brexit negotiations.

It remains to be seen whether Mrs May is “a dead woman walking”, to use George Osborne’s crowing phrase; in the meantime the onus is on her to prove she is still up to the job – after all, it’s in the face of adversity that we see a person’s true mettle.