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Super fictional British civil servant Humphrey on the true to life 'Yes Minister/Prime Minister' tv sitcom suggested to PM Jim Hacker that the only reason the Brits had nuclear weapons was because the French had them too. Hacker later repeated the notion accidently in company.
It's an exaggerated joke. We did keep nuclear weapons partially because the French had them too, but it's not because we thought the French would be hostile--it's more a "keeping up with the Joneses" thing.