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The Times - Dire echoes of a right Royal gaffe. History Notebook by Graham Stewart

Ségolène Royal, the French Socialist presidential candidate, has been forced to clarify what she meant after appearing to call for Quebec’s “freedom”. Understandably taken aback, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has reminded her that it is “highly inappropriate for a foreign leader to interfere in the democratic affairs of another country”.

Many French commentators are interpreting her gaffe as a sign of her unsuitability for the presidency. …

…[In 1971], Edward Heath, then Prime Minister, described as “ignorant” a speech by JFK’s brother, Senator Edward Kennedy. Arguing against the nostrum that “America ought not to intervene in the affairs of another nation”, he called for a US Senate motion demanding Northern Ireland’s abolition. He insisted that Ulster’s existence was sustained only by “bayonets and bullets” against “oppressed minorities everywhere — yearning for liberty and the right of self-determination”.

Senator Kennedy’s failure to secure the Democratic presidential nomination prevented a serious breakdown between London and Washington. But it is not too late for him to demand Corsica’s freedom from France.

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