Following the German invasion of Belgium (10–28 May 1940), the Belgian government was forced to withdraw from Brussels into France, eventually to Bordeaux. Despite the surrender of King Leopold III and the Belgian Army on 28 May, it continued to support the French. However, after France sought an armistice it was unclear what it would do. Jaspar advocated taking the government to London, but was this was rejected by Pierlot on 18 June. Deserting the government without permission, Jaspar arrived in London with his family on 21 June. On 23 June, he made a broadcast on the BBC to German-occupied Belgium holding himself out as the founder of a Free Belgian government. Furious, the government in Bordeaux stripped him of his ministerial title the following day. Jaspar was soon joined by other left-wing politicians, many of them radicals, such as Camille Huysmans, Max Buset, and Isabelle Blume. Inspired by the example of the French General Charles de Gaulle, Jaspar attempted to form an alternative government on 5 July known as the "Belgian National Committee" ("Comité national belge") under Huysmans's presidency but he failed to secure diplomatic recognition from the British Foreign Office. The arrival of Albert De Vleeschauwer in London, followed by other senior members of the Pierlot government soon afterwards, ended the attempt to establish an alternative to the Belgian government in exile.