Hi Chris,
But this aircraft was degraded to ALT 2 law: a combination of Direct law for roll (stick-to-aileron/spoiler) and Alternate law for pitch, the latter without any high-AoA protection.
In trying to cope with the roll-control problems described (but not yet explained) by the BEA, it is almost inevitable that the PF was making continuous roll inputs, and probably had the stick in the palm of his hand. This would have made accurate pitch control difficult.
I agree.
It would only have needed a small amount of rudder trim to have levelled the wings (a technique forgotten / not learned by FBW crews). The stick could then have been released and used more normally to control the attitude. I suspect PF was struggling somewhat to maintain wings level (Meikleour previously described how "twitchy" it was in roll in ALT LAW during his loss of airspeed event).