Boris Johnson says Joe Biden did NOT rebuke him over Northern Ireland standoff during first face to face talks as White House scrambles to cool fury at ‘not well informed’ president’s intervention in Brexit row
- Joe Biden accused Boris Johnson of ‘inflaming tensions’ in Northern Ireland over its EU sausage war
- When he meets the Prime Minister on Thursday, he is tipped to set up a new ‘Atlantic Charter’
- But the US President has ordered his officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the British Government
- Yael Lempert, charge d’affaires at US Embassy in London said UK’s stance was imperilling the peace process
- Rebuke came as crunch talks between Britain and Brussels over sausage imports failed to make breakthrough
Joe Biden’s G7 schedule includes a meeting with the Queen after summit
President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip as the US leader will feature a meeting with the Queen following the G7 summit. Here’s his full schedule to June 16:
Wednesday, June 9
Biden and his wife, Jill, leave Washington on Wednesday morning. Their first stop in the UK will be at Royal Air Force Mildenhall to greet US Air Force personnel stationed there. Mildenhall is home to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the only permanent US Air Force air refueling wing in the European theater.
Thursday, June 10
Biden will meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson at St Michael’s Mount, a 17th-century castle on an island just off the coast of Cornwall.
Jill Biden will have tea separately with the Prime Minister’s wife Carrie Johnson.
The Bidens are staying at Tregenna Castle Hotel n St Ives with the rest of the G7 leaders.
Friday, June 11
Biden will attend the G7 summit for three days starting on Friday, to work on US policy priorities such as the economy and allied unity.
Saturday, June 12
Biden will attend more G7 summit meetings in Cornwall and have bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders.
Jill Biden will meet members of Bude Surf Veterans, which helps UK military veterans through surfing.
Sunday, June 13
Biden will finish his meetings at the G7 summit. Afterward, the Bidens will meet Britain’s Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. Then Biden will travel to Brussels for the night.
Monday, June 14
Biden will meet NATO leaders and have a private meeting with the president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan.
Tuesday, June 15
Biden will hold more NATO meetings and then fly to Geneva for the night.
Wednesday, June 16
Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday it was unclear whether the two leaders would hold a joint news conference after their talks.
Boris Johnson tonight insisted Joe Biden did not rebuke him over the Northern Ireland situation during their first face-to-face talks – as the White House tried to cool a furious row.
The PM revealed that the US president avoided reading the riot act over the Brexit standoff when they met in Cornwall this afternoon.
But he said there is ‘common ground’ between the UK, America and the EU that solutions must be found to the Norther Ireland protocol issues.
Downing Street said the leaders ‘reaffirmed their commitment’ to the Good Friday during their discussions and ‘agreed that both the EU and the UK had a responsibility to work together and to find pragmatic solutions to allow unincumbered trade between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland’.
In the latest escalation of the row over the post-Brexit arrangements, the UK is at loggerheads with the EU over rules governing the import of chilled goods like sausages into Ulster.
The US is said to have issued a ‘demarche’ to Britain, an official diplomatic censure not normally used against allies, especially those as close as the two nations.
Washington is said to have ‘strongly urged’ Britain to ‘stay cool’ and reach an agreement, even if that meant making ‘unpopular compromises’.
The White House tried to row back from the row today, insisting the bust-up had been overplayed, but not before the president was branded ‘senile’ by a Tory Brexiteer.
Meanwhile, new DUP leader Edwin Poots accused the Democrat of trying to drive ‘a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement’ that guarantees sectarian peace in Northern Ireland.
Asked if Mr Biden made his alarm about the situation in Northern Ireland clear, Boris Johnson said: ‘No, he didn’t.
‘But what I can say is that America – the United States, Washington – the UK plus the European Union have one thing we absolutely all want to do and that is to uphold the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and make sure we keep the balance of the peace process going.
‘That’s absolutely common ground and I’m optimistic that we can do that.’
Mr Poots, a hardliner who replaced moderate Arlene Foster as DUP leader last month, said: ‘It would strike me that it’s not well informed in that the imperiling of the peace has been as a consequence of the Protocol and because of the implementation of the Protocol.
‘We’ve seen riots on the streets in Northern Ireland which we hadn’t seen for many years and I think the president would do well to reflect on what the reality is.
Ahead of this afternoon’s bilateral talks between the two leaders a senior Biden administration official said that reports of a serious rift were ‘wrong’.
‘First this discussion wasn’t directed by the president. It was not heightened. As with any ally we have diplomatic conversations about areas where we have concern at many levels,’ they said.
‘Jake (Sullivan – US national security adviser) addressed the issue of Northern Ireland during his BBC interview and the message sent privately was exactly the same.’
The official later added that the president would not get ‘controversial or adversarial’ when he speaks to the PM about Northern Ireland.
‘He didn’t come here to give a lecture,’ they said.
‘He believes that the Good Friday agreement is the foundation for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland … the current discussions between the UK and EU should continue the vitality of Good Friday agreement.’
However, if it is confirmed that a demarche was sent, it will show the strength of feeling in the Biden administration over Northern Ireland.
And an anonymous Tory MP told Politico: ‘America should remember who their allies are… unfortunately he’s (Biden) so senile that he probably won’t remember what we tell him anyway.
‘Unless an aide is listening I’m not sure he’s going to remember for very long.’
The row now seems certain to overshadow talks between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden today ahead of the G7 meeting of world leaders in Cornwall. Mr Biden arrived in the UK with huge fanfare last night.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the protocol was the ‘one and only solution’ to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and that she still saw ‘fundamental gaps’ in Britain’s implementation of it.
Boris Johnson (left) revealed that US president Joe Biden (right) avoided reading the riot act over the Brexit standoff when they met in Cornwall this afternoon
The US President used his diplomats to express ‘great concern’ over the conflict centred on post-Brexit trade rules agreed last year by both sides, which the UK is now seeking to change.
Unionist hardliner Mr Poots accused the Democrat of trying to drive ‘a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement’ that guarantees sectarian peace in Northern Ireland
Ahead of this afternoon’s bilateral talks between the two leaders (pictured) a senior Biden administration official said that reports of a serious rift were ‘wrong’.
he Prime Minister Boris Johnson with his wife Carrie on the beach at the Carbis Bay, Cornwall today, ahead of Friday’s G7 summit.
Boris Johnson speaks to children at St Issey Primary school today. The Northern Ireland row now seems certain to overshadow talks between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden today ahead of the G7 meeting of world leaders in Cornwall. Mr Biden arrived in the UK with huge fanfare last night.
The Prime Minister’s joke fell flat with the children. He asked ‘Did you hear about the burglar who escaped from prison who said ‘I’m free. I’m free’? And then the little chap said ‘i’m poor, I’m poor’.
How sausages sparked a cold meat war between the UK and EU
The ‘sausage war’ row is the latest front in the ongoing stand-off between Britain and the European Union over Northern Ireland.
When Boris Johnson agreed a Brexit deal with Brussels to make Brexit happen it included the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This is a complex trade agreement that tries to deal with the fact that Ulster is the only part of the UK with an EU land border, with Ireland.
The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration.
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which ended decades of sectarian violence in Ulster, the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland must remain ‘soft’, ie no ‘hard’ border posts with checks on traffic.
The NIP, which was signed off by both sides, effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the European single market for goods in order to avoid a hard border with Ireland.
Despite Mr Johnson’s claims to the contrary, it has meant erecting a trade barrier in the Irish Sea for goods crossing from Great Britain, which have to face customs checks before entering Northern Ireland – even if they are not being taken into the Republic.
A six-month ‘grace period’ for these checks was agreed to allow the infrastructure to be put in place, which runs out at the end of June.
But the checks have infuriated the loyalist community in Northern Ireland, who are outraged at the internal UK free market is being interrupted.
Earlier this year, armed loyalist groups said they were temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal.
The groups said they believed Britain, Ireland and the EU had breached their commitments to the peace deal.
The UK Government has not ruled out unilaterally extending the check-free period after June 30, but that has angered the EU, which says that the UK must honour the deal it signed up to less than six months ago.
Brussels has threatened to launch a trade war against Britain if it fails to implement checks on goods entering Northern Ireland under the terms of the Brexit ‘divorce’ settlement which Mr Johnson signed.
European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic last said patience with the UK was wearing ‘very, very thin’ after talks in London ended in deadlock.
EU institution leaders will use the summit to tell Mr Johnson that Britain and the EU had both agreed the protocol governing Northern Ireland trade arrangements and that Britain must apply it and not make unilateral changes.
‘We will discuss that in a trilateral meeting in Cornwall together. We are determined to do everything to keep peace and stability on the island of Ireland. It is important that there is deep respect for the protocol,’ von der Leyen told a news conference.
Mr Johnson received another blow today, with plans to host the Biden talks on the picturesque St Michael’s Mount island scuppered by the dreary Cornish weather.
Mr Biden is also said to have communicated to Britain that accepting demands to stick to EU agricultural rules would not ‘negatively affect the chances’ of coming to a free trade deal with Britain.
He has begun his first foreign trip as president, consisting of eight days in Europe where he will meet Boris Johnson and his new wife Carrie, the rest of the G7 leaders, The Queen, NATO officials and Russian Premier Vladimir Putin on June 16 in Geneva.
No10 sources insisted any tensions over Northern Ireland would not ‘dominate’ the meeting between the leaders.
And thids afternoon Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove has insisted that US president Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson are ‘on the same page’.
During a visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Gove was asked about Mr Biden’s intervention and the fact that the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martion has described it as ‘significant’.
Mr Gove said: ‘The Taoiseach, the president and the UK Prime Minister are all on the same page, we are all absolutely committed to protecting and upholding the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in all of its dimensions.
‘Yesterday my colleague David Frost was talking to my friend Maros Sefcovic about how we can make sure the protocol works in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and that is something that we need to work together to ensure.’
The President and his wife Jill left Washington on Wednesday morning and landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall to address US Air Force personnel stationed in Britain. At the start of his speech he told the standing troops to sit by saying ‘at ease’, then said: ‘I keep forgetting I am president’.
During his address, he said he would be meeting with Mr Putin to ‘let him know what I want him to know’; told the crowd that ‘global warming’ is the biggest threat to the US; teared up as he paid tribute to his late veteran son Beau; and boasted that ‘America is back’.
When Mr Biden meets the Prime Minister today at St Michael’s Mount, a 17th-century castle on an island just off the coast of Cornwall, he is tipped to set up a new ‘Atlantic Charter’ modelled on the post-Second World War pact made by FDR and Winston Churchill, and will work to open up travel between the US and UK ‘as soon as possible’.
But the US President has ordered his officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the British Government for its continued opposition to checks at Northern Irish ports.
Yael Lempert, charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in London, told Brexit Minister Lord Frost the UK’s stance was imperilling the peace process. She had been ordered to issue the diplomatic rebuke, known as a demarche, a step rarely taken between allies, The Times said.
They are often issued alongside a summons for the country’s ambassador to attend the Foreign Office.
Government minutes from June 3 reveal Lord Frost was told of President Biden’s ‘great concern’ in a tense encounter in which Ms Lempert is said to have ‘slowly and gravely read her instructions aloud’.
The President and his wife Jill left Washington on Wednesday morning and landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall to address US Air Force personnel stationed in Britain
The row now seems certain to overshadow talks between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden today ahead of the G7 meeting of world leaders in Cornwall. Mr Biden arrived in the UK with huge fanfare last night.
Von der Leyen says EU has been ‘flexible’ over Northern Ireland trade
Top European Union officials vowed Thursday to use all measures available to ensure that the United Kingdom respects the terms of its Brexit agreement with the bloc as tensions rise over trade involving Northern Ireland.
In an effort to defuse the row, European Council president Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to hold talks with Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7.
Von der Leyen told reporters today that the EU has ‘shown flexibility, we will show flexibility, but the protocol and the (Brexit) Withdrawal Agreement has to be implemented completely.’
She said the EU is ‘determined to do everything to keep peace and stability on the island of Ireland. It is important that there is deep respect for the protocol, that we protect it.’
Von der Leyen said the bloc would not hesitate to use remedies laid out in the Brexit agreement, including referring the dispute to an arbitration panel, which could hit the U.K. with financial sanctions, or by the EU imposing punitive tariffs on imports of goods from Britain.
She is said to have implied the UK had been ‘inflaming the rhetoric’ and asked if the Government would ‘keep it cool’. She also warned the dispute between Britain and the EU was ‘commanding the attention’ of Mr Biden ahead of his meeting with the PM today.
The memo said the US ‘strongly urged’ Britain to come to a ‘negotiated settlement’ even if it meant ‘unpopular compromises’.
But Ms Lempert, who is America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, said that if the UK could accept demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Mr Biden would ensure the matter ‘wouldn’t negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK free trade deal.’
A ban affecting goods including burgers and chicken nuggets is due to come into force at the end of this month when a grace period expires.
Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline that if Mr Biden does comment publicly he will be interfering in the ‘internal affairs’ of the UK.
‘It isn’t anything to do with President Biden. It would be very strange if we were to comment on a domestic issue relating to a part of the US. It is an internal matter.
‘I would be very surprised if he says anything in public. And obviously what people say anonymously must be taken with not just a pinch of salt, a pot of salt.’
And long-standing Eurosceptic Tory John Redwood today said: ‘If President Biden wishes to back a good outcome on the island of Ireland he needs to press the EU to respect the UK internal market and the views of the majority in Northern Ireland. It is the EU disrupting trade.’
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘We’ve just seen an unprecedented rebuke from President Biden in relation to the negotiations in relation to Northern Ireland.
‘And that comes on the back of months of chaos, of lack of preparedness and, frankly, the Government misleading the public.
‘I’ve worked in Northern Ireland. I know what it means for those communities and the way the Government is going about this is undermining the peace process. But it’s now also undermining our relationship with America. So we need to make progress on this.’
Mr Sefcovic warned that the EU’s patience with the UK over its implementation of post-Brexit border rules in the Northen Ireland Protocol governing trade was ‘wearing very, very thin’.
Speaking at a press conference in London after three-and-a-half hours of talks with Lord Frost, he claimed Brussels had shown ‘enormous patience’ with Britain.Mr Sefcovic said relations with the UK were ‘at a crossroads’ – and warned that Brussels was ready to launch retaliatory action if Mr Johnson extends the grace period.
How ‘Irish Joe’ Biden has refused to support UK over Northern Ireland
Their nations may have a famed ‘special relationship,’ but President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet for the first time today against a backdrop of differences both political and personal.
Mr Biden hopes to use his first overseas trip as president to reassure European allies that the United States had shed the transactional tendencies of Donald Trump’s term and is a reliable partner again. But tensions may simmer beneath the surface of Biden’s meeting with Johnson.
The president staunchly opposed the Brexit movement, the British exodus from the European Union that Johnson championed, and has expressed great concern with the future of Northern Ireland. And Biden once called the British leader a ‘physical and emotional clone’ of Trump.
Mr Biden has refused to take sides in Northern Ireland since he entered the White House in January, despite the UK being seen as the US’s main ally in Western Europe.
His rebuke to Boris Johnson is a marked departure from the US’s hostility to the EU under his predecessor.
Mr Trump spent his four-year term embroiled in rows with European nations over transatlantic trade and the level of contributions made by Nato member states to defence spending levels.
But Mr Biden is seeking to rebuild relations with the EU, and his criticism of Mr Johnson and the UK should be seen through that prism.
In March, regarding the current impasse over the Northern Ireland Protocol, a spokesman said: ‘We view that as a trade issue to be resolved between the UK and the EU. We hope that both sides are able to return to the table and discuss the implementation of the agreement.’
They should also been seen through the context of the president’s own personal and familial interest in Ireland.
Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish roots, has warned that nothing should undermine Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday peace accord. Some on the British side have viewed Biden warily because of his heritage.
Mr Biden has previously spoken with pride about his Irish Catholic roots in his Pennsylvania birthplace, and he travelled to County Mayo in 2016 to visit distant relatives.
He is seen as far more open to Irish re-unification than his predecessor. And he is unlikely to see eye-to-eye with loyalists like the DUP. In 2015 he sparked fury, when, as a senator, he quipped to an Irish delegation that no one ‘wearing orange’ was welcome in his house on St Patrick’s Day, a comment seen as a slur against Protestants in Ulster.
Mr Biden was also photographed alongside former Sinn Fein president Mr Adams and with his arm around the party’s then US representative, Rita O’Hare, in 2017.
In 1972 she was arrested in Northern Ireland for the attempted murder of a British Army officer in Belfast the previous year.
‘Of course, as you would understand, the fact that I mentioned that we are at a crossroads means that our patience really is wearing very, very thin, and therefore we have to assess all options we have at our disposal,’ he added.
‘I was talking about the legal action, I was talking about arbitration, and of course I’m talking about the cross-retaliation.’
Mr Sefcovic said the EU ‘will not be shy’ in launching retaliation. He declined to set out the exact measures Brussels was willing to take, but suggested it could include retaliatory tariffs and quotas on British exports or ‘non-co-operation’ in areas like financial services.
The PM had said that his Brexit deal would not require any additional checks on goods traded between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. But Mr Sefcovic said proper implementation of the deal would require ‘many checks’.
In a calculated barb, he suggested ministers may not have fully understood the consequences of the deal they were signing. ‘When the agreement was being negotiated it might be that our British partners could not fully estimate the consequences of the Brexit they had chosen – what it would mean to leave the single market and customs union, how complex it would be for business and government,’ he said.
Mr Sefcovic conceded that British meat products had been produced to the same standards as those in the EU for decades. But he said there was ‘no guarantee’ this would continue and claimed the import of sausages from the UK could cause ‘public health’ problems in the future. He said the EU had offered a deal which would solve ’80 per cent of the problems’. This would involve the UK agreeing to align with EU standards on the relevant products – an idea the PM has ruled out. Mr Sefcovic said this could be on a ‘temporary’ basis, with the UK allowed to renegotiate if it strikes a major trade deal with the US.
Lord Frost insisted there is still time to reach an agreement before the current ‘grace period’ for chilled meats ends, but said the UK will consider ‘all options’ if it proves impossible.
A senior source later confirmed that includes the option of extending the grace period unilaterally.
‘The PM has been pretty clear that he can’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to sell the British banger in Northern Ireland. The biosecurity risk is zero.’
EU officials say without an agreement by July 1, there should be no fresh meat that moves from the British mainland to the province.
At their arrival on Wednesday night, Joe and Jill Biden received a warm welcome at the base, garnering several rounds of applause. They spoke outdoors as the sun set behind them. Both Bidens wore face masks but took them off to speak.
President Biden also mentioned his late son Beau, a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. He teared up as he thanked military personnel the Royal Air Force Mildenhall for their service.
‘I wish my major was here to thank you as well,’ he said referencing his late son, who died of brain cancer in 2015. ‘You’re the best of our country,’ he added.
He also outlined the goals of his trip and the message he wanted to give to world: ‘The United States is back and the democracies of the world are standing together to face the toughest challenges.’
Biden said during his meetings with fellow leaders, he would focus on COVID, climate change, and on protecting themselves from ‘the growing threat of ransomware attacks…[and] the autocrats who are letting it happen.’
After his G7 meeting, Biden will meet in Brussels with NATO and EU leaders, where the Russian and Chinese threats will top the agenda.
President Joe Biden waves as he stands next to U.S. Air Force personnel and their families stationed at RAF Mildenhall
Biden calls the Royal Air Force the ‘RFA’
Joe Biden called the Royal Air Force the ‘RFA’ while addressing US military personnel at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk during his first-ever speech as US President on British soil last night.
The gaffe came after the 78-year-old President declared that the Anglo-American alliance, forged during World War Two, was the ‘strongest military and political alliance in the history of the world’.
Mr Biden told US troops: ‘These partnerships have been hardened in the fire of war. Generations of Americans and service members fought them. Like the original Bloody Hundredth, and those RFA pilots.’
He had already been admonished by his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, who told him to ‘pay attention’ as the President stared at troops positioned behind the stage at the military base.
The US commander-in-chief has been the subject of repeated questions about his mental faculties and fitness to be in charge of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
He is known to make mistakes, have mix-ups or even digress during political speeches or while answering questions – and has even been caught tripping a time or two.
And British pro-Brexit politicians today called Biden ‘senile’ in a feud over the State Department’s accusations that Boris Johnson is ‘inflaming’ tensions in Northern Ireland in a dispute with Dublin over trade arrangements.
In March, the President was seen falling up the stairs three times while boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews before finally reaching the top of the plane and saluting. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later claimed that he had been blown over by the wind.
Mr Biden has also referred to his vice-president Kamala Harris as ‘President Harris’, forgotten the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and confused his granddaughter with his late son, Beau.
After his remarks, Biden left the stage to shake hands with service members.
Before the president spoke, Jill Biden admonished him to focus when she addressed the troops.
‘Joe pay attention,’ the first lady told the president.
She had just told the service members to sit down. President Biden, standing behind her, turned around to see the troops positioned behind the stage.
That was when the first lady asked chided him to watch her as she addressed Air Force personnel at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
In her brief remarks, the first lady thanked the troops for their service and touted her Joining Forces initiative – a group she formed with then-first lady Michelle Obama to support families of American troops.
‘I hope that you know how special you are. And we are so grateful for your and your family’s service,’ she said.
Biden and his wife Jill, a university professor, touched down at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk in Air Force One just after 7.30pm, kicking off the president’s eight-day trip to Europe.
The UK stop also includes face-to-face meetings with the Queen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After speaking to troops, the Bidens head to Carbis Bay near St Ives, where the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada will gather for three days to discuss the pandemic and climate change among other issues.
Biden is scheduled to meet with Johnson for face-to-face talks Thursday – the first time the two men will have met in person – before the G7 Summit formally gets underway on Friday.
When the summit ends on Sunday, the President and First Lady will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Biden will then depart for Brussels where he will attend a NATO summit and a joint US-EU summit before then heading to Geneva for a bilateral showdown with Putin.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Biden said that the trip is about ‘realising America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners’ as he attempts to build bridges with Britain and the EU after some leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel clashed with his predecessor Donald Trump.
The Republican president engaged in a bitter trade row with the EU and slammed NATO members for failing to spend more on defense – sparking fears that he would pull the US out of the military alliance and embolden Russian activity in Ukraine and eastern Europe.
Trump also formally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement – both negotiated by Barack Obama. One of Biden’s first acts as President was to rejoin the climate accord and reopen nuclear talks with the Iranian government, as he sought to reverse the actions of the previous administration.
The US President has ordered his officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the British Government for its continued opposition to checks at Northern Irish ports (pictured: Boris Johnson in St Austell, June 9)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden disembark from Air Force One as they arrive at RAF Mildenhall ahead of the G7 Summit
President Biden is kicking off an eight-day trip to Europe, first lady Jill Biden will be with him for the UK portion
Air Force One carrying U.S. President Joe Biden lands at RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall as he arrives ahead of the G7 Summit, near Mildenhall, Suffolk
Photographers take pictures behind a fence of RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden, near Mildenhall, Suffolk
Preparations remain ongoing ahead of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay later this week. A Royal Navy vessel is pictured off the coast of Cornwall on June 8
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured arriving at Newquay Airport ahead of the G7 summit, which begins on Friday
Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps view the LauncherOne at the Spaceport at Newquay Airport ahead of the G7 Summit
Police continue their checks in Carbis Bay, Cornwall as world leaders gather to discuss the pandemic and climate change
What is a ‘demarche’?
The US is said to have issued a ‘demarche’ to Britain, an official diplomatic censure not normally used against allies, especially those as close as the two nations.
The Times reported that the president – who is intensely proud of his Irish roots – took the extraordinary step of ordering the United States’ most senior diplomat in London, Yael Lempert, to deliver the formal protest in a meeting with Brexit minister Lord Frost on June 3.
Demarche – from the French to ‘take steps’ is a formal censure from one party to another. According to Harvard University is it ‘a petition or protest presented through diplomatic channels’.
They can also be used ‘to protest or object to actions by a foreign government’ and are more commonly used between states who have grievances. Their use between allied nations is less common.
The newspaper reported that Government minutes of the meeting said: ‘Lempert implied that the UK had been inflaming the rhetoric, by asking if he would keep it ”cool”.’
The US charge d’affaires indicated that if Mr Johnson accepted demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Mr Biden would ensure that it would not ‘negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK free trade deal’.
The White House has said that Biden will meet with Johnson to ‘affirm the special relationship between our nations’ – a term which the prime minister reportedly dislikes because it is ‘too needy’.
Whitehall is understood to have viewed the President’s decision to make the UK his first overseas destination as a major diplomatic victory for Johnson.
The Prime Minister has lavished praised on Biden since he won power in the election last year, in the hope of striking a new free trade deal with the US.
However, there are concerns that he and the President may not get along, after Democratic sources previously questioned whether Johnson was an ‘ally’.
Johnson had sought close relations with Trump, causing Biden to call him a ‘physical and emotional clone’ of the controversial Republican president.
Johnson faced fierce domestic criticism over his relationship with Trump, but has defended the ties and has insisted that prime ministers should always have the ‘best possible’ ties with sitting US presidents.
There has also been speculation Johnson and Biden could struggle to work together because of the Prime Minister’s past criticism of Barack Obama, in whose administration Biden served as vice president.
Biden is also expected to put pressure on the UK not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit Protocol in a bid to preserve the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. US concerns about the province’s trade status could even derail efforts to strike an Anglo-US trade deal.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the BBC: ‘President Biden believes and has said that the Northern Ireland Protocol, as part of the agreement between the UK and the European Union, is critical to ensuring that the spirit, promise and future of the Good Friday Agreement is protected.
‘That being said, of course the UK and EU need to work out the specifics and the modalities on that, need to find some way to proceed that works both for the EU and the UK. But whatever way they find to proceed must, at its core, fundamentally protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and not imperil that.
The leaders of the world’s seven most advanced economies will arrive in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on Friday for the start of the G7 summit.
The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Formal meetings between the seven leaders will then get underway on Saturday as leaders from guest nations, like Australia, also arrive.
The global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to prevent a future world health crisis are expected to dominate discussions.
But climate change and trade matters are also expected to be discussed at length.
Most of the G7’s formal business will be conducted behind closed doors but leaders frequently meet each other in the margins for bilateral talks which often begin on camera.
The summit will draw to a close on Sunday afternoon after a morning of further talks with leaders often conducting individual press conferences before departing.
The UK, as the host nation, will issue a communique following the end of the event to set out what has been agreed.
‘And that is the message that President Biden will send when he is in Cornwall.’
However, there were positive signs in March of the ‘special relationship’ warming up after Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry visited London for talks with Johnson. The positive trend continued in May when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has ‘no closer partner’ than the UK.
Biden will join others from the G7 group of leading economies in Carbis Bay on Friday, where Devon and Cornwall Police are expecting climate protests.
Johnson plans to use the summit to urge the members – also including Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy – to ‘defeat’ Covid-19 by helping to vaccinate the world by the end of next year.
The White House said in April when it confirmed the trip to Europe that Biden will ‘highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America’s interests’.
During an official visit to the UK, Blinken said that the ‘special relationship’ is ‘enduring’, ‘effective’ and ‘dynamic’ as well as being ‘close to the hearts of the American people’.
Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street alongside Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Blinken said: ‘It is also the 75th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s famous speech at Westminster College in Missouri where he described the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States and how vital it is for our two countries and many others around the world.
‘Three quarters of a century later, that Special Relationship is enduring, it is effective, it is dynamic and it is close to the hearts of the American people. The United States has no closer ally, no closer partner, than the United Kingdom and I am very glad for the chance to say that again here today.’
Police officers and security stand by erimieter barriers erected in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, ahead of the G7 summit
The President is scheduled to meet Boris Johnson for face-to-face talks – the first time the two men will have met – before the summit formally gets underway on Friday. The PM pictured in Downing Street’s garden at a reception for teachers
PM and president to discuss UK-US travel corridor and new ‘Atlantic Charter’
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will pledge to open a US-UK travel corridor ‘as soon as possible’ and open up Transatlantic travel restrictions when the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday.
They will also establish a new ‘Atlantic Charter,’ modelled on the one put together by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in World War II.
International travel will be a top issue at this week’s G7 summit, where the coronavirus pandemic has essentially halted traffic as the summer holiday season approaches. Johnson planned to press Biden about a ‘green channel’ between their respective nations so those who are vaccinated could travel without observing a quarantine.
Before the outbreak of coronavirus more than 5 million British subjects visited the US and over 4.5 million Americans visited the UK every year – more than any other country.
To restart transatlantic travel, the two leaders will launch a new travel taskforce that will make recommendations on safely reopening it.
Additionally, Biden and Johnson will also agree to a new ‘Atlantic Charter’, modelled on the historic joint statement made by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 that set out the leaders goals for the world post-WWII.
The ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK was formed during the dark days of that war. Since then, leaders of the two nations have used it to describe the close alignment of American and British interests.
Biden touted the importance of the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the United Kingdom in his remarks to Air Force personnel upon his arrival in the UK.
‘These bonds of history, the shared sacrifice, run deep and are strong, based on values. They endure – the connection and camaraderie between our troops, this community and American citizens, stationed in UK,’ he said. ‘You are not only warriors. You are bridge builders. You are an essential part of this special relationship.’
The 1941 Atlantic Charter was devised at sea on board the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the American ship USS Augusta.
The modern namesake of HMS Prince of Wales will sail along the coast of Cornwall providing the backdrop for the two leaders’ sit down, which will take place at St Michael’s Mount, a 17th-century castle on an island just off the coast of Cornwall.
The new Atlantic Charter will focus on threats to modern democracies, an agenda item the White House as emphasized ahead of the trip as American worries grow about the growing world influence of Russia and China.
The areas the two leaders will pledge to work together include defending democracy, reaffirming the importance of collective security, and building a fair and sustainable global trading system.
It will also recognize the threats of cyber attacks and climate change.
The President’s security team for the Summit is reportedly so vast they will have to stay in more than 50 hired luxury camper vans because there is not enough accommodation.
The recreational vehicles have been delivered to St Mawgan airbase near Newquay, 20 miles from where the meeting of leaders takes place in the tiny Cornish resort of Carbis Bay at the weekend.
A 400-strong contingent of Secret Service agents and support staff will be at the summit, but with thousands of holidaymakers already in the area, almost every hotel and B&B in a 30-mile radius of the summit has been booked.
Meanwhile, video footage showed two Sea King and three V-22 Osprey helicopters soaring above Cornwall and Devon as they practiced the route the President will take from the airbase to Tregenna Castle Resort, St Ives, after Air Force One lands at RAF Mildenhall and then Newquay airport on Wednesday.
Some 1,000 police will be staying on a cruise liner docked in Falmouth harbour and others will stay in RVs currently parked up at the RAF airbase near Newquay.
It comes after a long line of caravans clogged up the A30 on Monday as holidaymakers made their way to the southern-most point of England. One photograph shared on social media showed heavy traffic that had been ‘crawling’ for around 20 minutes near the Devon-Cornwall border.
Meanwhile for the summit, some 30 vehicles have been leased from a Somerset company called Empire RV, which usually supplies luxury vehicles for film shoots and Grand Prix events.
The US camper vans are so large that the company warns many can only be driven by one of their experienced staff and are not available for self-drive hire. The most luxurious ones – some the size of an articulated lorry – can sleep up to eight people and come equipped with satellite TV and other comforts.
The RV sare expected to be driven to the Tregenna Hotel in Carbis Bay where the president is due to stay during the three-day conference. The castle boasts 98 bedrooms and is the grandest hotel in the county, featuring a 72-acre estate and an 18-hole golf course.
The US motor homes have been rented for £2,500 each for a week by the US Embassy in London and include the 45ft long former RV used by Jensen Button when he was racing in Formula 1.
A spokesman for Bristol based Empire RV said they had set up a mini village at the St Mawgan airbase.
A helicopter, which is dubbed Marine One when the US president is onboard, practised landing on the golf course at the Tregenna Castle Resort – where President Biden and the other leaders will stay – on Monday.
Pilots familiarising the route they will take after Air Force One lands at Newquay Airport later this week have taken to the skies above Cornwall in recent days. Three US Marine Osprey aircraft have been seen over St Michael Mount and the Carbis Bay area.
The aircrafts’ purpose is to fly White House staff during the President’s trips abroad. They also transport Secret Service agents that follow Marine One in case the helicopter goes down.
Ospreys were seen over Haldon Hills near Exeter at 8pm on Monday, where it is thought they may have just left Exeter Airport. By 8.40pm the aircraft were spotted landing at Tregenna Castle Resort.
The helicopters were seen landing at Carlyon Bay, St Austell, at 9.45pm, before descending onto Tregenna Castle Resort at 10.15pm. The aircraft were brought to the UK on the US Air Force’s Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.
They were offloaded at the Royal Navy airbase Culdrose, near Helston, on Sunday. The impressive US-military aircraft flew high over the steep sand dunes of Hayle beach, St Ives, at around 9.30pm on Monday.
Carrie’s first official duties as Mrs Johnson! Newlywed will meet First Lady Jill Biden for tea and tour St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summit
America’s First Lady will meet with newlywed Carrie Symonds during her trip to the UK this week for the G7 summit, the White House has announced.
In a statement released this afternoon, it was confirmed that President Joe Biden’s wife Jill, 70, will enjoy a visit with the new Mrs Johnson, 33, over tea on Thursday.
Jill, a university professor, and Carrie, a former Tory aide, will then tour St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall, where the G7 summit is being held on Friday.
Last week, Buckingham Palace announced that the First Lady and her husband President Biden will also meet with the Queen at Windosr Castle on June 13.
America’s First Lady (pictured left) will meet with newlywed Carrie Symonds (pictured right) during her trip to the UK this week for the G7 summit, the White House has announced
Big day! Boris Johnson and Carrie married in a private Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on May 29, with a small group of family and friends present
‘The President and First Lady will meet with The Right Honorable Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Mrs Carrie Johnson,’ the statement from the First Lady’s office read.
‘The First Lady and Mrs Johnson will meet separately over tea and then tour St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall.’
This weekend, when Mrs Johnson joins her new husband Boris at the G7 Summit, will be their first major engagement as a married couple.
Carrie will be in charge of all the leaders’ spouses, including France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron, 68, Joachim Sauer, 72, husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, 46, wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill left the White House on Wednesday on the way to Cornwall where they will meet Boris Johnson and attend the G7, before a meeting with the Queen
Boris and Carrie married in a private Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on May 29, with a small group of family and friends present.
They proceeded with a small reception in the Downing Street garden, where an official photograph of the bride and groom was taken.
The couple have already sent save-the-date cards for a wider celebration on July 30 next year. The couple’s one-year-old son Wilfred attended the small wedding in the cathedral where he had previously been baptised.
The bride wore a rented long lace gown and a floral headband. She has taken the Prime Minister’s surname and is now known as Mrs Johnson.
It is understood Mrs Johnson was unhappy that an unofficial snap, presumed to have been taken by a guest, circulated on social media. Downing Street declined to comment on the timing of the wedding.
Meanwhile, President Biden is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Boris for face-to-face talks tomorrow – the first time the two men will have met in person – before the summit formally gets underway on Friday.
When the summit ends on Sunday, the President and First Lady will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Mr Biden will then depart for Brussels where he will attend a NATO summit and a joint US-EU summit before then heading to Geneva in Switzerland for a bilateral showdown with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an article for the Washington Post, Mr Biden announced that the trip is about ‘realising America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners’ as he attempts to mend relations with Britain and the EU.
His predecessor Donald Trump engaged in a bitter trade row with the EU and slammed NATO members for failing to spend more on defence – sparking fears that he would pull the US out of the alliance.
The Republican president also angered the international community after he formally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement – both negotiated by Barack Obama. One of Mr Biden’s first acts as President was to rejoin the climate accord and reopen nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic.
Mr Biden also said that he would meet with Mr Johnson to ‘affirm the special relationship between our nations’ – a term which the British premier reportedly told the President that he hates because it is ‘too needy’.
The beast of Carbis Bay! President Biden’s 17-car motorcade charges through Cornish town complete with bulletproof limo, anti-IED jamming truck, an ambulance and dozens of heavily armed Secret Service agents
Joe Biden’s 17-vehicle motorcade charged through a sleepy Cornish town in the middle of the night, complete with a bulletproof limo, anti-IED jamming truck, an ambulance and dozens of heavily-armed Security Service agents.
Videos shared on social media show the enormous US cavalcade hurtling through the coastal region in southern England ahead of the President’s face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson today.
Cornwall is the site of the G7 Summit, where the leaders of Britain, the US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada will discuss the pandemic, climate change and the threats posed to world order by China and Russia.
Mr Biden and First Lady Jill Biden travelled to the Tregenna Castle Hotel in St Ives, where they will be staying during the summit, by motorcade rather than his Marine One helicopter due to bad weather.
The couple are not riding the ‘Beast’ – the famous £1.2million seven-seat black stretched Cadillac limousine designed to give American presidents and their families ultimate protection – but an armoured SUV also used by Donald Trump for the 2017 G7 Summit in Biarritz.
The Secret Service believe it will not fit down Cornwall’s narrow lanes in the event of an emergency. In 2009, during a visit by Barack Obama to see Gordon Brown, the car almost got stuck as it attempted to turn around in Downing Street, eventually managing it after five attempts.
Mr Biden’s huge detail includes dozens of Security Service agents, who can be seen riding several large vehicles including the Electronic Countermeasures Suburban, the jamming truck which is used to counter IEDs and missile attacks.
The ECS is adorned with a large dome which is believed to contain an electronic jamming system which disrupts signals to IEDs and a radar which can detect the targeting systems of any incoming missiles.
Mr Biden is also followed by the the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team, who will use a variety of heavy weapons to counter attack anyone who attacks the motorcade.
The President landed in RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk yesterday evening, and addressed US Air Force personnel stationed in Britain before flying to Newquay Airport in Cornwall at the start of his first foreign trip as president.
The President and First Lady travelled to the Tregenna Castle Hotel, where they stayed last night, in an armoured SUV with a union flag and stars and stripes flying from the hood. The traditional ‘beast’ armoured’ limousine was not used
This vehicle is USSS Electronic Countermeasures Suburban, which is used in a presidential motorcade to counter guided attacks, such as IEDs, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-tank guided missiles
USSS Electronic Countermeasures Suburban, pictured in June 2019 during Donald Trump’s visit to the UK
Several large vehicles contain dozens of Security Service agents who are there to protect the President and First Lady
British police are seen riding jet skis as they patrol the waters of Carbis Bay in Cornwall this morning
The offshore naval vessel HMS Tamar patrols off St Ives, Cornwall on June 10, 2021, ahead of the G7 summit
Police at Carbis Bay ahead of the summit of leaders from Britain, the US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan
Extinction Rebellion protesters stand on a bridge over the A30 near Redruth waving a banner reading ‘There is no Planet B’
Mr Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are staying at the Tregenna Castle Hotel in St Ives during the G7 Summit in Cornwall
Cornwall is the site of the G7 Summit, where the leaders of Britain, the US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada will discuss the pandemic, climate change and the threats posed to world order by China and Russia
Queen will welcome Joe Biden with pomp and ceremony at Windsor: Grenadier Guards will give Royal Salute to US president and First Lady Jill Biden while Star-Spangled Banner is played this Sunday
The Queen will host US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for tea at Windsor Castle this Sunday following the G7 summit, royal officials confirmed today.
The 95-year-old monarch will welcome Mr Biden, who will be the 13th serving US president she has formally received, and his wife at the dais in the quadrangle.
A Guard of Honour will be formed of the Queen’s Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards, who will give a Royal Salute, and the US National Anthem will be played.
Mr Biden will then accompany the Officer Commanding the Guard of Honour, Major James Taylor, and Major General Christopher Ghika, to inspect the Guard of Honour.
The President will then return to the dais to watch the military march past alongside The Queen and his wife. The Bidens will then join the Queen for tea in the castle.
Today Mr Biden will leave St Ives for Carbis Bay, where he will meet Mr Johnson and his new wife Carrie Symonds for the first time. The two leaders were due to visit St Michael’s Mount, a 17th-century castle on an island off the coast of Cornwall, but this has been cancelled due to bad weather. It is thought they will instead host their bilateral at the Carbis Bay Hotel.
Mr Biden and Mr Johnson are tipped to affirm the so-called Special Relationship between the two countries and set up a new Atlantic Charter modelled on the Second World War pact made by Roosevelt and Churchill. They are also expected to work on opening up Anglo-US travel ‘as soon as possible’.
Mr Biden hopes to use his first overseas trip as president to reassure European allies that the United States had shed the transactional tendencies of Donald Trump’s term and is a reliable partner again. But tensions may simmer beneath the surface of Mr Biden’s meeting with Mr Johnson.
A memo seen by the Times states that the President had used his diplomats to ‘strongly urge’ Britain to ‘stay cool’ and reach an agreement with the EU, even if that meant making ‘unpopular [political] compromises’.
Mr Biden even threatened to torpedo British chances of striking a new free trade deal with the US if Mr Johnson did not calm tensions – sparking fury among senior Brexiteers who branded the 78-year-old ‘senile’.
The White House has since tried to put out the flames of a major transatlantic bust-up with Britain, with a senior administration official telling the BBC: ‘This is wrong.
‘First this discussion wasn’t directed by the President. It was not heightened. As with any ally we have diplomatic conversations about areas where we have concern at many levels.
‘Jake (Sullivan – US national security adviser) addressed the issue of Northern Ireland during his BBC interview and the message sent privately was exactly the same.’
The Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed in October 2019, seeks to prevent a hard land border between the UK province and the Republic of Ireland. Under the terms of the deal, Northern Ireland is effectively in the Single Market and is also bound by the rules of the EU customs union. However, tensions between Britain and Brussels have flared over the flow of UK-produced chilled meats to Northern Ireland, dubbed the ‘sausage war’.
The president staunchly opposed the Brexit movement, the British exodus from the European Union that Johnson championed, and has expressed great concern with the future of Northern Ireland. And Mr Biden once called the British leader a ‘physical and emotional clone’ of Trump.
His rebuke to Mr Johnson is a marked departure from the US’s hostility to the EU under his predecessor. Mr Trump spent his four-year term embroiled in rows with European nations over transatlantic trade and the level of contributions made by NATO member states to defence spending levels.
But Mr Biden’s criticism of Mr Johnson and the US should also been seen through the context of the president’s own personal and familial interest in Ireland.
Mr Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish roots, has warned that nothing should undermine Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday peace accord. Some on the British side have viewed Biden warily because of his heritage.
Mr Biden has previously spoken with pride about his Irish Catholic roots in his Pennsylvania birthplace, and he travelled to County Mayo in 2016 to visit distant relatives. He is seen as far more open to Irish re-unification than his predecessor. And he is unlikely to see eye-to-eye with loyalists like the DUP.
In 2015 he sparked fury, when, as a senator, he quipped to an Irish delegation that no one ‘wearing orange’ was welcome in his house on St Patrick’s Day, a comment seen as a slur against Protestants in Ulster.
Mr Biden was also photographed alongside former Sinn Fein president Mr Adams and with his arm around the party’s then US representative, Rita O’Hare, in 2017. In 1972, she was arrested in Northern Ireland for the attempted murder of a British Army officer in Belfast the previous year.
The Times report sparked fury among senior Brexiteers after he threatened to torpedo British chances of a new free trade deal with the US if Mr Johnson did not refrain from ‘inflaming tensions’ over Northern Ireland.
Under the terms of the protocol, Northern Ireland has effectively remained in the EU Single Market and is bound by the rules of the customs union. However, tensions between Britain and Brussels have flared over the flow of UK-produced chilled meats to Northern Ireland, dubbed the ‘sausage war’.
The President and his wife Jill left Washington on Wednesday morning and landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall to address US Air Force personnel stationed in Britain. At the start of his speech he told the standing troops to sit by saying ‘at ease’, then said: ‘I keep forgetting I am president’.
During his address, he said he would be meeting with Mr Putin to ‘let him know what I want him to know’; told the crowd that ‘global warming’ is the biggest threat to the US; teared up as he paid tribute to his late veteran son Beau; and boasted that ‘America is back’.
When Mr Biden meets the Prime Minister today at St Michael’s Mount, a 17th-century castle on an island just off the coast of Cornwall, he is tipped to set up a new ‘Atlantic Charter’ modelled on the post-Second World War pact made by FDR and Winston Churchill, and will work to open up travel between the US and UK ‘as soon as possible’.
But the US President has ordered his officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the British Government for its continued opposition to checks at Northern Irish ports.
Yael Lempert, charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in London, told Brexit Minister Lord Frost the UK’s stance was imperilling the peace process. She had been ordered to issue the diplomatic rebuke, known as a demarche, a step rarely taken between allies, The Times said.
They are often issued alongside a summons for the country’s ambassador to attend the Foreign Office.
Government minutes from June 3 reveal Lord Frost was told of President Biden’s ‘great concern’ in a tense encounter in which Ms Lempert is said to have ‘slowly and gravely read her instructions aloud’.
She is said to have implied the UK had been ‘inflaming the rhetoric’ and asked if the Government would ‘keep it cool’. She also warned the dispute between Britain and the EU was ‘commanding the attention’ of Mr Biden ahead of his meeting with the PM today.
The memo said the US ‘strongly urged’ Britain to come to a ‘negotiated settlement’ even if it meant ‘unpopular compromises’. But Ms Lempert, who is America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, said that if the UK could accept demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Mr Biden would ensure the matter ‘wouldn’t negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK free trade deal.’
The rebuke came as crunch talks between Britain and Brussels over sausage imports failed to make a breakthrough. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic threatened to retaliate if the UK takes unilateral action to continue the flow of British-produced chilled meats to Northern Ireland.
Senior Brexiteers have blasted Mr Biden for failing to side with Britain in its ‘sausage war’ trade row with the EU over Northern Ireland, with one astonishingly branding the President ‘senile’.
DUP leader Edwin Boots lashed out at Mr Biden, accusing him of trying to drive ‘a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement’ that guarantees sectarian peace in Northern Ireland’.
Mr Poots, who wants the Northern Ireland Protocol removed, told the BBC: ‘This is effectively a constitutional change. Would president Biden for example allow Alaska, which is separate and distinct from the rest of the land block of the USA, but still part of the USA, to be taking laws from Canada, and have its laws applied from Canada?’
And an anonymous Tory MP told Politico: ‘America should remember who their allies are… unfortunately he’s (Biden) so senile that he probably won’t remember what we tell him anyway. Unless an aide is listening I’m not sure he’s going to remember for very long.’
The row now seems certain to overshadow talks between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden today ahead of the G7 meeting of world leaders in Cornwall. Mr Biden arrived in the UK with huge fanfare last night.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the protocol was the ‘one and only solution’ to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and that she still saw ‘fundamental gaps’ in Britain’s implementation of it.
EU institution leaders will use the summit to tell Mr Johnson that Britain and the EU had both agreed the protocol governing Northern Ireland trade arrangements and that Britain must apply it and not make unilateral changes.
‘We will discuss that in a trilateral meeting in Cornwall together. We are determined to do everything to keep peace and stability on the island of Ireland. It is important that there is deep respect for the protocol,’ von der Leyen told a news conference.
A ban affecting goods including burgers and chicken nuggets is due to come into force at the end of this month when a grace period expires.
The graphic above details the various components of ‘The Beast’ which is not carrying President Biden around Cornwall
Donald Trump rode in the seven-ton Beast when he visited London in 2019
Joe Biden’s 17-vehicle motorcade charged through a sleepy Cornish town in the middle of the night, complete with a bulletproof limo, anti-IED jamming truck, an ambulance and dozens of heavily armed Security Service agents
Mr Biden’s huge security detail includes dozens of Security Service agents, who can be seen in several large vehicles
British police officers stand guard in Carbis Bay, Cornwall on June 10, 2021, ahead of the three-day G7 summit
Police at the media centre in Falmouth, ahead of Joe Biden’s bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson today before the G7 summit
British police officers patrol outide the security fence erected around the perimeter of Carbis Bay, Cornwall
A seven-car entourage was seen travelling through Carbis Bay in Cornwall ahead of the G7 Summit, which begins tomorrow
Police patrol by the harbour in St Ives, Cornwall on June 10, 2021, ahead of the G7 summit
The President and his wife Jill arrived at RAF Mildenhall to address US Air Force personnel stationed in Britain. At the start of his speech he told the standing troops to sit by saying ‘at ease’, then said: ‘I keep forgetting I am president’. They later flew on to Newquay (pictured)
EU threatens the UK with a ‘sausage trade war’ as talks over Northern Ireland trade rules end in stalemate
The EU yesterday threatened to launch a trade war against Britain if it fails to implement checks on goods entering Northern Ireland under the terms of the Brexit ‘divorce’ settlement.
After talks in London on averting a ‘sausage war’ ended without a breakthrough, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said patience with the UK was wearing ‘very, very thin’.
His warning came after Brexit Minister Lord Frost refused to rule out the prospect that the UK could unilaterally delay imposing checks on British-made sausages and other chilled meats due to come into force at the end of the month.
Following three-and-a-half hours of discussions at Admiralty House, Lord Frost accused Brussels of adopting an ‘extremely purist’ approach to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
But in a press conference afterwards, Mr Sefcovic insisted the EU has shown ‘enormous patience’ in the face of ‘numerous and fundamental gaps’ in the UK’s compliance with the agreement.
It came as it emerged that Lord Frost will accompany Boris Johnson to the G7 summit in Cornwall this week to avoid a Brexit ambush by the EU.
President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the US does not want to see any action that would put at risk the Northern Ireland peace process, which the Protocol is designed to protect.
Ahead of Mr Biden’s meeting with Mr Johnson on Thursday, before the G7 summit in Cornwall, Mr Sullivan said it is up to the two sides to find an agreed way forward.
The Prime Minister said that there needed to be a solution to the Brexit row that protects the ‘economic and territorial integrity’ of the UK.
He told reporters in Cornwall: ‘On the Northern Ireland Protocol, let’s be absolutely clear the purpose is to uphold the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, to make sure that we keep the balance in relationships in Northern Ireland.
‘Of course, there’s a north-south dimension to that, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, making sure that trade flows freely there.
‘There’s also an east-west dimension, that’s very, very clearly at the heart of what the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is trying to do.
‘So, what we want to do is make sure that we can have a solution that guarantees the peace process, protects the peace process, but also guarantees the economic and territorial integrity of the whole United Kingdom.’
Long-standing Eurosceptic Tory John Redwood today said: ‘If President Biden wishes to back a good outcome on the island of Ireland he needs to press the EU to respect the UK internal market and the views of the majority in Northern Ireland. It is the EU disrupting trade.’
Mr Sefcovic warned that the EU’s patience with the UK over its implementation of post-Brexit border rules in the Northen Ireland Protocol governing trade was ‘wearing very, very thin’.
Speaking at a press conference in London after three-and-a-half hours of talks with Lord Frost, he claimed Brussels had shown ‘enormous patience’ with Britain. Mr Sefcovic said relations with the UK were ‘at a crossroads’ – and warned that Brussels was ready to launch retaliatory action if Mr Johnson extends the grace period.
‘Of course, as you would understand, the fact that I mentioned that we are at a crossroads means that our patience really is wearing very, very thin, and therefore we have to assess all options we have at our disposal,’ he added.
‘I was talking about the legal action, I was talking about arbitration, and of course I’m talking about the cross-retaliation.’
Mr Sefcovic said the EU ‘will not be shy’ in launching retaliation. He declined to set out the exact measures Brussels was willing to take, but suggested it could include retaliatory tariffs and quotas on British exports or ‘non-co-operation’ in areas like financial services.
The PM had said that his Brexit deal would not require any additional checks on goods traded between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. But Mr Sefcovic said proper implementation of the deal would require ‘many checks’.
In a calculated barb, he suggested ministers may not have fully understood the consequences of the deal they were signing. ‘When the agreement was being negotiated it might be that our British partners could not fully estimate the consequences of the Brexit they had chosen – what it would mean to leave the single market and customs union, how complex it would be for business and government,’ he said.
Mr Sefcovic conceded that British meat products had been produced to the same standards as those in the EU for decades. But he said there was ‘no guarantee’ this would continue and claimed the import of sausages from the UK could cause ‘public health’ problems in the future. He said the EU had offered a deal which would solve ’80 per cent of the problems’. This would involve the UK agreeing to align with EU standards on the relevant products – an idea the PM has ruled out. Mr Sefcovic said this could be on a ‘temporary’ basis, with the UK allowed to renegotiate if it strikes a major trade deal with the US.
Lord Frost insisted there is still time to reach an agreement before the current ‘grace period’ for chilled meats ends, but said the UK will consider ‘all options’ if it proves impossible.
A senior source later confirmed that includes the option of extending the grace period unilaterally.
‘The PM has been pretty clear that he can’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to sell the British banger in Northern Ireland. The biosecurity risk is zero.’
EU officials say without an agreement by July 1, there should be no fresh meat that moves from the British mainland to the province.
At their arrival on Wednesday night, Joe and Jill Biden received a warm welcome at the base, garnering several rounds of applause. They spoke outdoors as the sun set behind them. Both Bidens wore face masks but took them off to speak.
President Biden also mentioned his late son Beau, a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. He teared up as he thanked military personnel the Royal Air Force Mildenhall for their service.
‘I wish my major was here to thank you as well,’ he said referencing his late son, who died of brain cancer in 2015. ‘You’re the best of our country,’ he added.
He also outlined the goals of his trip and the message he wanted to give to world: ‘The United States is back and the democracies of the world are standing together to face the toughest challenges.’
Mr Biden said during his meetings with fellow leaders, he would focus on COVID, climate change, and on protecting themselves from ‘the growing threat of ransomware attacks…[and] the autocrats who are letting it happen.’
After his G7 meeting, Mr Biden will meet in Brussels with NATO and EU leaders, where the Russian and Chinese threats will top the agenda.
After his remarks, the President left the stage to shake hands with service members. Before the president spoke, Jill Biden admonished him to focus when she addressed the troops.
‘Joe pay attention,’ the first lady told the president. She had just told the service members to sit down. President Biden, standing behind her, turned around to see the troops positioned behind the stage.
That was when the first lady asked chided him to watch her as she addressed Air Force personnel at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
In her brief remarks, the first lady thanked the troops for their service and touted her Joining Forces initiative – a group she formed with then-first lady Michelle Obama to support families of American troops.
‘I hope that you know how special you are. And we are so grateful for your and your family’s service,’ she said.
Biden’s Cornish West Wing: US president and G7 leaders hole up in £200-a-night castle hotel that has been turned into a fortress in staycation hotspot St Ives
World leaders attending the G7 summit in Cornwall this weekend will spend their downtime at a £200-a-night 18th century castle that has been turned into a fortress.
The Grade II-listed Tregenna Castle Resort was built in 1774 and will be home for the likes of US president Joe Biden between discussions at the summit.
And Mr Biden will feel right at home with the hotel’s best rooms dubbed the West Wing Sea View rooms with stunning views over St Ives.
Set in 72 acres with commanding views of the St Ives coastline, the Treganna Castle was seen as the perfect place for world leaders to stay and relax after attending meetings of the G7 summit.
With its secluded grounds, manicured lawns and an 18-hole golf course – an ideal landing spot for US President Joe Biden’s Marine One helicopter – it is by far the largest and grandest hotel in Cornwall.
With 98 rooms and 55 apartments it was large enough to cope with the President’s entourage of advisors and Secret Service agents as well as other world leaders from France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie will also be in residence during the summit taking place a short distance away at the Carbis Bay Hotel.
And to ensure the privacy of the world leaders, a giant fence has been erected around Tregenna, with police on patrol with sniffer dogs and extra lighting installed.
Tregenna Castle Resort was built in 1774 and will be home for the likes of US president Joe Biden between discussions at the summit
The Tregenna Castle Resort in St. Ives, Cornwall. World leaders attending the G7 summit will be staying at the hotel resort
Pictured: Self-contained apartments at the hotel resort. Set in 72 acres with commanding views of the St Ives coastline, the Treganna Castle was seen as the perfect place for world leaders to stay and relax
The US President and his wife Jill are thought to be staying in one of the self-contained apartments (pictured) with spectacular views over St Ives Bay or one of the West Wing suites
With 98 rooms and 55 apartments the hotel is large enough to cope with the President’s entourage of advisors and Secret Service agents as well as other world leaders from France, Germany, Italy and Japa
The hotel is less than a ten minute drive from the Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall where Mr Biden and Mr Johnson will be attempting to thrash out agreements on issues like climate change, international travel and Northern Ireland, alongside other world leaders.
Perched on top of a hill overlooking Carbis Bay on the Cornish coastline, politicians will be able to explore Tregenna’s secluded grounds and natural woodlands – and perhaps even enjoy a friendly game on its 18-hole golf course.
They will also be able to take a dip in the hotel’s indoor or outdoor swimming pools, a round of tennis on its two all-weather courts or even a workout in its well-stocked fitness suite.
The US President and his wife Jill are thought to be staying in one of the self-contained apartments with spectacular views over St Ives Bay or one of the West Wing suites.
Tregenna was built in 1774 as a 12-bedroom private home for a wealthy Cornishman with a love for the sea.
Samuel Stephens commissioned the build of the house from local granite. The house remained in the family until it was sold by their final heir, John Stephens, to a family of local bankers, the Bolithos, in 1871.
The hotel is named after the hill in St Ives which it was built upon with the renowned architect John Wood the Younger, best known for Bath’s Royal Crescent, designing the home.
The Bolithos acquired the house at the same time that Isambard Kingdom Brunel was building the Great Western Railway from London to Penzance to serve the West of England.
Tregenna was built in 1774 as a 12-bedroom private home for a wealthy Cornishman with a love for the sea
Guests will be able to take a dip in the hotel’s indoor or outdoor swimming pools, a round of tennis on its two all-weather courts or even a workout in its well-stocked fitness suite
The hotel is named after the hill in St Ives which it was built upon with the renowned architect John Wood the Younger, best known for Bath’s Royal Crescent, designing the hom
Mr Biden will feel right at home with the hotel’s best rooms dubbed the West Wing Sea View rooms with stunning views over St Ives
Great Western Railway bought the hotel in 1895 and it was so popular they later named two steam locomotives after the castle resort
At the time it was then fashionable for all the great railway companies to establish destination hotels by the sea.
Great Western Railway bought the hotel in 1895 and it was so popular they later named two steam locomotives after the castle resort.
Sir Daniel Gooch, the chairman of the GWR, stayed at the hotel a few weeks after it opened to the public and recorded in his diary: ‘The situation of this house is very fine; it is a castle within its own grounds of about 70 acres (28 ha), a great part of which are gardens and woods with pretty shaded walks.’
The hotel underwent major development throughout the early 1900s.
The West Wing was completed in 1932 with one of the guests Hitler’s Ambassador, Herr Von Ribbentrop.
It’s said that he later sent a message back which stated that on no account was St Ives to be bombed as he wished to live in Tregenna when ‘they’ had won the war.
Under the current owners, the Treganna Hotel Estate, the luxury destination has hosted many famous guests, from the late Duke of Edinburgh, former Prime Minister John Major, actress Dame Judy Dench and singer David Bowie.
The West Wing was completed in 1932 with one of the guests Hitler’s Ambassador, Herr Von Ribbentrop. It’s said that he later sent a message back which stated that on no account was St Ives to be bombed as he wished to live in Tregenna when ‘they’ had won the war
Under the current owners, the Treganna Hotel Estate, the luxury destination has hosted many famous guests, from the late Duke of Edinburgh, former Prime Minister John Major, actress Dame Judy Dench and singer David Bowie
The cast of the hit TV series Poldark, including its star Aiden Turner, also stayed at the hotel while filming the BBC series
Away from the G7 summit the hotel is popular for weddings with two indoor and four outdoor venues
Extinction Rebellion protesters pictured on a bridge in Reruth near the site of the G7 summit in Cornwall this morning
A ring of steel surrounding the G7 summit has seen 11,000 police officers and 150 sniffer dogs gather to combat potential threats
To ensure the privacy of the world leaders, a giant fence has been erected around Tregenna, with police on patrol with sniffer dogs and extra lighting installed
The cast of the hit TV series Poldark, including its star Aiden Turner, also stayed at the hotel while filming the BBC series.
As well as the 18-hole President’s golf course there are two swimming pools for leisure activities.
Away from the G7 summit the hotel is popular for weddings with two indoor and four outdoor venues.
A ring of steel surrounding the G7 summit has seen 11,000 police officers and 150 sniffer dogs gather to combat potential threats.
President Biden and his wife Jill flew into Newquay Airport shortly before midnight and were driven to their accommodation at Treganna in a convoy of cars flanked by police outriders.
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