Johnson speaks to Biden before EU leaders
BORIS JOHNSON pulled off a major diplomatic coup by becoming the first European leader to speak to Joe Biden since the US election.
Fears that Britain would be put at the back of the queue because of the president- elect’s disquiet about Brexit proved unfounded as the two men spoke for more than 20 minutes yesterday afternoon.
As well as boosting the “special relationship” between the countries, the Prime Minister will hope that by prioritising Britain over France and Germany, Mr Biden will not take Brussels’ side in Brexit trade talks. Mr Johnson was able to use the call to reassure Mr Biden, who is proud of his Irish roots, that the Brexit deal would protect the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Mr Biden previously said there would be no US-UK trade deal if Brexit put the Good Friday Agreement in jeopardy.
Instead, Mr Biden’s decision to put Britain so close to the top of his call list has increased hopes of a US-UK trade deal being done. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, is the only national leader known to have spoken to Mr Biden before Mr Johnson.
British diplomats in Washington had tried to manage expectations by suggesting Britain would be content with being in the first dozen calls made by Mr Biden. Theresa May was the ninth leader to speak to Donald Trump after his election in 2016.
A spokesman for Mr Biden said he had “expressed his desire to strengthen the special relationship and redouble cooperation on i ssues of mutual concern”. Mr Biden “especially looks forward to working closely together on global challenges as the UK prepares to host the 2021 G7 and the UN Climate Change Conference”, they added.
Mr Biden has put the environment towards the top of his agenda, promising to re-sign the Paris Agreement on
climate change on day one of his presidency after Mr Trump pulled the US out of it. Britain’s hosting of the 2021 COP26 climate change conference is seen as one of Mr Johnson’s strongest cards in building a relationship with Mr Biden.
Sources close to Mr Biden claimed he dislikes Mr Johnson, partly due to his closeness to Mr Trump and because he believes Brexit was a mistake.
Mr Biden’s spokesman said he had “expressed his interest in cooperating with the UK, Nato, and the EU on shared trans-atlantic priorities, and reaffirmed his support for the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland”.
No 10made no mention of the Good Friday Agreement discussion, but said the pair were looking forward to working together “on areas such as trade” and that Mr Johnson issued a formal invitation to the G7 and COP-26.
Mr Johnson’s place in the queue meant he was able to address any concerns Mr Biden had about the status of the agreement before EU l eaders i ncluding Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel could raise the matter.
It came as the Government delayed a vote over legislation that threatens to tear up parts of the Brexit divorce deal, which had threatened to poison relations with Mr Biden.
Mr Biden has said there will no trade deal with the US if the controversial clauses become law and repeated his commitment to the agreement in a call with Micheál Martin, Ireland’s prime minister, after he spoke to Mr Johnson.
Mr Johnson pushed back a vote on the Internal Market Bill, which overrides parts of the Withdrawal Agreement relating to Northern Ireland, until the end of the month at the earliest.
The Prime Minister has bought time to see if a UK-EU trade deal can be struck, which would allow for a facesaving climbdown over the relevant clauses, which peers stripped out of the Bill on Monday.
The clauses are only relevant if there is a no-trade-deal exit from the EU at the end of the year.