UK and French leaders reach border deal, disagree on Brexit

The leaders of Britain and France met Thursday against a military backdrop to pledge closer cooperation on defense, security, and borders after Britain leaves the European Union.

French President Emmanuel Macron views a guard of honor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley England ahead of UK-France summit talks Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)

But President Emmanuel Macron also delivered a firm message: the U.K. cannot keep coveted access to the EU for its financial sector after Brexit unless it continues to play by the bloc's rules once it leaves.

"The choice is on the British side, not on my side," Macron said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, ahead of the UK-France summit talks. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)

"If you want access to the single market — including the financial services —- be my guest," he said. "But it means that you need to contribute to the budget and acknowledge European jurisdiction."

French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listen to the national anthems as they arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The future of Britain's financial sector — which employs more than 1 million people — is a key issue as Britain and the EU hammer out details of their relationship after Brexit. EU officials warn the U.K. it can't hang on to the benefits of membership without accepting its responsibilities, including free movement of people.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

May said Britain would be leaving the single market, but wanted a free-trade deal with the bloc covering both goods and services.

French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the Guard of Honour as he and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May look at two Royal Air Force planes as they perform a flypast ahead of the start of an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

She said London "will continue to be a major global financial center" after Brexit.

The visit, Macron's first to Britain since he won the French presidency in May 2017, was aimed at strengthening security and intelligence ties between nations that are both neighbors and historic rivals, and building goodwill as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, left, with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, second left, arrive to watch the opening ceremony for the Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The venue — the Sandhurst military academy southwest of London — was selected as a signal that the relationship between western Europe's two biggest military powers won't be weakened once the U.K. leaves the EU in March 2019.

May treated the French leader to a pub lunch of crab and duck breast, followed by a serving of British military pomp. Macron was greeted at Sandhurst troops from the Coldstream Guards in gray coats and bearskin hats.

The Guard of Honour lines up before French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May as they arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Amid a sudden hailstorm, Macron and May inspected the honor guard before taking a salute from soldiers on horseback.

Senior ministers from the two countries attended the one-day meeting and signed agreements on everything from space exploration to tackling online extremism.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, front left, and French President Emmanuel Macron, front right, pose at a plenary session at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley England during UK-France summit talk Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)

In a significant gesture, May offered millions to ease French annoyance over a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in the northern French port of Calais. The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.

Alongside a new treaty aimed at better management of their joint border, Britain agreed to pay 44.5 million pounds ($62 million) for fences, security cameras, and other measures in Calais and the nearby English Channel ports. France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

May pointedly declined to give a number of migrants that Britain would take when asked by journalists at a joint press conference. Instead, she stressed the need to clamp down on people smugglers and take other measures to stop migrants from getting to Calais.

Macron said the treaty would mean "smarter and more efficient management of the border" and a faster, more humane processing system for migrants.

The U.K. also said it will send three Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters and dozens of personnel to join France's military mission against Islamic militants in Africa's Sahel region. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of the five main U.K. and French spy agencies also met for the first time, as the two countries seek to increase intelligence-sharing. France and Britain have both faced a string of violent attacks by extremists inspired or directed by the Islamic State group.

In a boost to Macron, Britain is throwing its backing behind the European Intervention Initiative, a multinational European military force that the French president has proposed. He also wants a common European defense budget and security doctrine.

In return, France will send troops to join a U.K.-led NATO battle group in Estonia in 2019, aimed at countering an increasingly assertive Russia.

Macron also came with the news that France will loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century panorama depicting the Norman conquest of England. It will go on display at an unspecified British venue in 2022.

Macron said that despite Brexit, "we are facing common challenges and sharing the same destiny."

"We are somehow making a new tapestry together," he said.

LONDON (AP) — The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.

The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009. If passed, the bill will give Britain some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world. Authorities say it will create modern Britain’s “first smoke-free generation.”

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, children turning 15 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco. Once implemented — officials are aiming for 2027 — the legal age of sale that people in England can buy cigarettes will be raised by one year, every year until it is eventually illegal for the whole population.

The bill also includes measures to crack down on youth vaping, such as banning the sale of cheap disposable vapes and restricting their flavors to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine.

It is currently illegal for anyone to sell cigarettes or tobacco products and vapes to people under 18 years old throughout the U.K.

During the bill’s second reading late Tuesday, 383 lawmakers voted in favor while 67 opposed it after an afternoon of debate. Although the bill was widely praised by health experts and had the support of the opposition Labour Party, Sunak faced rebellion from more libertarian-minded members of his party, who criticized the proposals as “unconservative.”

Opponents, such as the smokers' rights lobbying group FOREST, said the move risks creating a black market and will “treat future generations of adults like kids.” Prominent voices within the Conservative Party, including two of Sunak's predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said the plans went against conservative values by limiting people's personal freedoms.

The bill was a “virtue-signaling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future," Truss told Parliament during Tuesday's debate.

Other high-profile Tories, including business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a Cabinet minister, also opposed the bill or abstained.

Conservative lawmakers were granted a free vote, meaning they could vote with their personal conscience rather than follow the official party line.

The plans were believed to have been inspired by similar policies proposed by New Zealand under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but the country's new coalition government repealed the bill earlier this year.

The government said that smoking won’t be criminalized, and the phased changes mean that anyone who can legally buy cigarettes now won’t be prevented from doing so in the future.

The number of people who smoke in the U.K. has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people in the country — or about 13% of the population — still smoke, according to official figures.

Authorities say smoking causes some 80,000 deaths a year in the U.K, and remains the number one preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets students taking part in a personal development lesson as he visits Haughton Academy to outline plans for the banning of single use vapes, in Darlington, England, on Jan. 29, 2024. British lawmakers will on Tuesday April 16, 2024 debate and vote on the government's plans to introduce a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking. (Ian Forsyth/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)