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鈥淚 do not want to get too political about this,鈥� George Murray repeated three or four times during our interview before proceeding to be very political, as if it was second nature. The four letters behind 鈥榯his鈥� referred in turn to the migrant situation in Calais, Keir Starmer, the Tories and Trump. Oh, and Brexit. Of course.

Mr Murray is the president of the (BACO), a Calais-based association created 鈥榯o inform and advise Britons living in the C么te d鈥橭pale area of France and their French friends on the consequences of Brexit and how to survive in the new situation鈥�.It was founded on June 26, 2016, three days after 鈥渄isbelief, shock, horror, whatever words you鈥檇 like to use,鈥� he said, referring to the result of the Brexit referendum.

He is one of three founders, along with Marian Lefebvre and violinist Kristina Howells.

鈥淏ACO is a sociocultural association. I would add ludique as well,鈥� he said. 鈥楢t the request of our members we remain strictly non-political鈥�, it states on its website.

Mr Murray admits the association tuned down the politics of its newsletter and centered on the daily life of being a British individual living in France.

BACO provides advice on residence permits, and the evolution of new ETA and EES regulations.

鈥淵ou would be surprised how little people know about these things,鈥� he said.

What else does BACO do? The usuals of an association integrating both cultures. That means walking visits and guided tours of historical events, barbecues, quizzes and music events or celebrations such as the latest 80th VE Day event.

What Mr Murray is most proud of is how BACO is federated with other clubs and associations strengthening British-French alliances and relationships, mainly through memberships at the British committee or the Anglican church of Pas-de-Calais.

Members meet once a week at Le Caf茅 polyglotte de Calais, a local caf茅 which organises multilingual meet-up nights; they sometimes meet up at other places such as Le Caf茅 polyglotte in Boulogne-sur-Mer or Saint-Omer.

BACO organises a monthly bookclub event at the M茅diath猫que Louis Aragon, thanks to a partnership with the mairie, where members discuss a book every last Saturday of the month.

The most intriguing aspect of it all is that BACO鈥檚 members are roughly split 50/50 between British and French.

Mr Murray has been given three objectives over his term: Rethinking the missions of the association; set up new events; and increase the number of members.

He said he was pleased to have expanded in areas around Montreuil-sur-Mer and Boulogne-sur-Mer but said BACO is still looking to bolster membership in inland towns and villages and is looking for help from new members.It is safe to say he did not expect the UK to vote to leave the European Union. He learned French when he was seven, moved to Nord-Pas-de-Calais in 1993 and toured France for nearly 30 years as a business consultant. Fond of France, Mr Murray is now part of the fabric of French society, having taught business courses for 15 years and set up meetings for British ambassadors when they toured Calais between the referendum and the implementation of Brexit.

鈥淪ome of the problems generated are not all related to Brexit. Sometimes, it has to do with European regulations as well on passport controls or the EES plan,鈥� said Mr Murray.

鈥淎s a president, I have to be very careful tuning down the political stances that I take. Some members are surprisingly quite pro-Brexit,鈥� he added.

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