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Joe Biden, the president-elect of the United States, has issued a warning to Boris Johnson not to allow Brexit to destabilize the Northern Ireland peace process, in a call that suggests that the “special relationship” is about to get more complicated. .
Biden surprised Downing Street by including Johnson among the first world leaders to receive a post-election phone call, but the diplomatic niceties were accompanied by a strong message about Brexit.
“They spoke about the importance of implementing Brexit in such a way that the Good Friday Agreement is respected,” said a British official, referring to the peace agreement that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland. “The prime minister assured the president-elect that that would be the case.”
Biden previously described Johnson as “a physical and emotional clone of Donald Trump” and warned that there would be no possibility of a trade deal between the UK and the US if Brexit undermined the Northern Ireland peace process.
Johnson’s determination to go ahead with legislation that would allow ministers to violate international law and nullify elements of last year’s Brexit treaty that relate to Northern Ireland has alarmed the Biden camp.
The prime minister argued that he was legislating to ensure open borders between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK after Brexit and that this was essential to maintain stability in the region.
British officials were relieved by the “warm” 25-minute call that took place so early in Biden’s time; Regardless of protests to the contrary, UK diplomats are always looking for an early affirmation of bilateral relations with the new US president.
Biden’s first call was with Justin Trudeau from Canada. Johnson is believed to be the second leader to congratulate the president-elect, although that was not confirmed by Biden’s team.
French President Emmanuel Macron during his call with Joe Biden at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday © Ian Langsdon / POOL / AFP / Getty
Instead, Biden’s team listed the call with Johnson last in a list of four calls that Biden made with the leaders of France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom on Tuesday. The countries were listed in alphabetical order.
Biden hailed France as his “oldest ally” while speaking with President Emmanuel Macron, and “praised” the leadership of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, expressing his desire to strengthen US relations with both countries, according to a reading. from the calls from Biden’s team. .
In his call with Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, Biden also “reaffirmed his support” for the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Speaking to Johnson, Biden “reaffirmed his support for the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland”, according to Biden’s team, an issue missing from the reading of the call in the UK, and expressed his desire to “strengthen the special relationship and redoubling cooperation on issues of mutual interest ”, highlighting efforts on climate change, Covid-19, economic recovery and democracy.
Downing Street said Johnson and Biden discussed trade (prospects for an early trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom seem bleak), security cooperation and climate change. Britain will host the G7 climate change summits and the United Nations COP26 in 2021.
“They spoke of the close and long-lasting relationship between our countries and committed to building on this partnership in the years to come, in areas such as trade and security, including through NATO,” said Number 10.
Johnson, meanwhile, shows no signs of backing down on his threat to violate international Brexit law, as he prepares another piece of legislation aimed at avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Johnson has been on a collision course with the EU and Biden by threatening to nullify parts of Britain’s EU withdrawal treaty related to Northern Ireland.
Downing Street said Tuesday that the prime minister intended to ask MPs next month to overturn Monday’s massive defeat in the House of Lords when his peers voted 433 to 165 to pass an amendment to the controversial bill. of the domestic market.
The upper house amendment removed measures that would have allowed ministers to “waive” parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, which aims to keep an open border in Ireland after Brexit, in violation of international law.
Joe Biden has expressed concern in the past about new British legislation that could lead to the return of a hard EU border in Ireland © Paul Faith / AFP / Getty
On the other hand, Johnson has indicated that he will introduce controversial dual legislation, a finance bill, that will give ministers control over a post-Brexit tariff regime for goods moving from the mainland UK to NI.
The prime minister insists he needs a legal “safety net” in the event that the EU interprets the withdrawal treaty in an “extreme” way that effectively places a hard trade border in the Irish Sea.
But Biden has warned that overriding the delicate Northern Ireland protocol could move that border to the island of Ireland.
The finance bill, due to be enacted before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, is likely to become the focus of most tension between Downing Street and MPs.
The government wants to ensure that tariffs are only paid for goods traveling from the UK to NI “if there is a real and substantial risk” of them ending up in the Republic of Ireland. These “at risk” goods are supposed to be identified in agreement with the EU.
If Johnson agrees to a free trade agreement with the EU before the end of the transition period, some of the disagreements will disappear, though Downing Street insisted the prime minister still believed a legal safeguard was needed.
After speaking with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, on Saturday, Johnson said that the goal of the internal market bill “and indeed the finance bill, is to protect and defend the Good Friday Agreement. and the peace process in Northern Ireland “.
Many colleagues hope Johnson will avoid a constitutional battle with the House of Lords over the home market bill. Gavin Barwell, former chief of staff to Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and now a colleague, said: “I think the government would do well to learn lessons from the magnitude of its defeat last night.”
