Wensleydale: So why did the RN sink the French ships in Oran, but accepted the neutrality of the French ships in Alexandria? Answer - the intransigence of the French Commander at Oran who followed the Vichy line.
Interesting.
That in itself would have been grounds for the British to attack. Why on earth would they have trusted any agreement brokered locally with the Germans, if the promise of neutrality was going to be ignored by the capitulating Vichy Forces later anyway?