The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has used an image of a French soldier as a background for a quote from General Sir Nick Carter on funding for the British Army posted on Facebook.
Very nice of the UK MoD to fund the French Armée de Terre https://t.co/74gGTBpcyk
— Rupert Hibbert (@HibbertRupert) November 21, 2020
The Ministry of Defence replaced the French soldier with an image of British airborne gunners. However, it appears it was too late, as netizens had spotted the mistake and mocked it on social media.
France's Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly noticed the gaffe and took to Twitter. She congratulated UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace on adopting a new budget and said that the news was excellent both for the UK and Europe.
Entretien au téléphone avec @BWallaceMP, mon homologue britannique 🇬🇧. Je l'ai félicité pour l'effort budgétaire important que le Royaume-Uni vient de décider pour ses forces armées. Une excellente nouvelle pour la sécurité du Royaume-Uni mais aussi plus largement de l'Europe.
— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) November 23, 2020
On 19 November, Ben Wallace confirmed that the UK was to increase its defence spending by nearly 10 percent over the next four years. The UK defence secretary’s comments followed Boris Johnson’s announcement that Downing Street was set to invest an additional £4 billion into defence until 2024.
