‘Elbows!’ Boris reminds himself not to shake hands as he and Carrie greet G7 leaders including Biden, Macron and Merkel on the golden sands of Carbis Bay – as grinning French President stokes Northern Ireland crisis with threat to veto protocol overhaul
- Emmanuel Macron has vowed to veto any attempt to renegotiate the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol
- Tensions over the post-Brexit rules for NI have been threatening to overshadow the G7 summit in Cornwall
- Boris Johnson has complained that the EU’s implementation of arrangements are ‘excessively burdensome’
Boris and Carrie Johnson were all smiles today as they formally greeted G7 leaders on the golden sands of Carbis Bay.
The PM and his new wife, wearing a vivid fuchsia dress, welcomed the guests to the official start of the summit one by one on a beachfront board walk.
Mr Johnson, who notoriously boasted he was still shaking hands with everyone in the early stages of the pandemic, appeared to remind himself not to get too close, saying ‘Elbows!’
Joe Biden was accompanied by wife Jill, while Angela Merkel was with her husband, but Justin Trudeau and Mario Draghi of Italy arrived alone. A grinning Emmanuel Macron strolled up alongside Brigitte, with Mr Johnson warmly referring to him as ‘Emmanuel’ despite the French president stoking the Northern Ireland row by vowing to veto an overhaul of the protocol.
Mr Biden made a quip urging people to go swimming, saying ‘everyone in the water’- with Mr Johnson joking in response that he had already been in.
Jill Biden laughed: ‘I feel like we are at a wedding’. Later Mr Johnson joked that it was like ‘walking down the aisle.’
The leaders then posed for the traditional family photograph – again socially distanced – before heading inside for the first summit session.
But there was time for one more move from Mr Macron. As Mr Johnson led the way at the urging of Mrs Merkel, the French President took the opportunity to throw his arm around Mr Biden’s shoulders and begin an animated discussion.
A grinning Emmanuel Macron strolled up alongside Brigitte (both right), with Boris Johnson (left with Carrie) warmly referring to him as ‘Emmanuel’ despite the French president stoking the Northern Ireland row by vowing to veto an overhaul of the protocol
The PM and his new wife, wearing a vivid fuchsia dress, welcomed the guests to the official start of the summit one by one on a beachfront board walk
Justin Trudeau arrived alone to be greeted by the PM and Carrie on the beach at Carbis Bay
Mr Biden quipped that everyone should go for a swim in the sea – with Mr Johnson joking in response that he had already been in
When they were seated around a table, Mr Johnson urged the leaders to ‘build back’ in a more ‘feminine’ way.
‘It is genuinely wonderful to see everybody in person. I can’t tell you what a difference it makes,’ he said.
‘We have all been going through the most wretched pandemic our countries have faced for our lifetimes, maybe longer, much longer.
‘And I actually think this is a meeting that genuinely needs to happen because we need to make sure that we learn the lessons from the pandemic, we need to make sure that we don’t repeat some of the errors that we doubtless made in the course of the last 18 months or so and we need to make sure that we now allow our economies to recover.
‘I think that they have the potential to bounce back very strongly and there is all sorts of reasons for being optimistic.
‘But it is vital that we don’t repeat the mistake of the last great crisis, the last great economic recession in 2008, when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society and I think what has gone wrong with this pandemic, or what risks being a lasting scar, is that I think the inequalities may be entrenched.
‘We need to make sure that as we recover we level up across our societies and we build back better.’
Tories have voiced fury at the obstructive stance from Mr Macron and demanded ‘pragmatism’ amid fears the trade rules are fuelling sectarian tensions in the province.
Ramping up the so-called ‘sausage war’, the French president said it was ‘not serious’ to want to change the arrangements so quickly.
‘I think it’s not serious to want to review in June what we finalised after years of debate and work in December,’ he said, adding that he will discuss the situation with Mr Johnson during a bilateral meeting at the G7 summit today.
But Mr Johnson sounded defiance today, boosted by Joe Biden seemingly backing off a confrontation in their talks, insisting the trade rules are ‘excessively burdensome’.
And Tory MP David Jones told MailOnline: ‘It is posturing. He’s actually been posturing for quite a long time.
‘He’s in a very precarious position domestically and quite clearly he is attempting to show toughness as a way of boosting his chances in the approach to the presidential election.
‘Given that the UK and the US both agree that pragmatism is necessary, I would imagine that the EU will pay attention and, if so, he is going to be out of step with the rest of the bloc.’
EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen, council president Charles Michel and French president Emmanuel Marcon seemed pleased to see each other today
Italian PM Mario Draghi joined the fun as the summit got under way this afternoon
Tories voiced fury at the obstructive stance from Emmanuel Macron (pictured arriving at the G7 summit with wife Brigitte today)
Boris Johnson (left with Joe Biden yesterday) has branded the Northern Ireland protocol ‘excessively burdensome’
Mr Biden and Mr Johnson insisted they were in ‘complete harmony’ last night as they tried to sweep away explosive claims of an eve-of-summit diplomatic row. Pictured, blimps of the PM and president at Carbis Bay today
The row over the Northern Ireland Protocol have been threatening to overshadow the G7 gathering at Carbis Bay.
Mr Biden and Mr Johnson insisted they were in ‘complete harmony’ last night as they tried to sweep away explosive claims of an eve-of-summit diplomatic row.
After their first face-to-face talks, the Prime Minister said he and President Biden shared ‘common ground’ over maintaining Ulster peace and the Good Friday Agreement.
Brussels is threatening to retaliate if Britain takes unilateral action to continue the flow of British-produced chilled meats to Northern Ireland when a grace period ends this month.
G7 leaders including Angela Merkel arrived for the summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall today
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his wife Mariko were among the arrivals today
Italian PM Mario Draghi waved to waiting media as he arrived at the summit in Cornwall today
There have been colourful climate protests going on near the gathering of world leaders
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are greeted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson, ahead of the G-7 summit, Thursday, June 10
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.
Britain accused the EU of adopting a ‘purist’ approach to the Brexit withdrawal deal in Northern Ireland amid warnings that sales of sausages from the rest of the UK could be blocked.
Mr Johnson, who will hold talks with EU leaders over the course of the G7 summit, told the BBC: ‘You will understand that there are ways of enforcing the protocol, ways of making it work, that may be excessively burdensome.
‘I just give you one statistic: 20% of the checks conducted across the whole of the perimeter of the EU are now done in Northern Ireland, three times as many as happen in Rotterdam.’
The new post-Brexit arrangements came into effect on January 1 and the dispute is still simmering, but Mr Johnson insisted ‘I think we can sort it out’.
Downing Street has been urging Brussels to show ‘common sense and pragmatism’.
The appeal came after European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said the EU would act ‘swiftly, firmly and resolutely’ if the UK tried to backtrack on its obligations under the deal.
It came amid reports Britain is ready to act unilaterally to delay imposition of checks on chilled meats such as sausages and chicken nuggets coming to Northern Ireland from Great Britain when the current ‘grace period’ expires at the end of June.
While the Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to be drawn on what steps the Government would take if there was no agreement by that point, he insisted there was no justification for barring chilled meats from Northern Irish shops.
‘Any ban would be contrary to the aims of the protocol and the interests of the people of Northern Ireland,’ the spokesman said.
‘The protocol was a compromise. We didn’t expect the EU to take a purist approach when implementing it. We are working very hard to try to resolve these issues consensually.
‘The Prime Minister has always made clear we will consider all our options in meeting our responsibility to sustain peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.
‘We hope that the EU will show the common sense and pragmatism needed to make progress.’
His comments came after Environment Secretary George Eustice dismissed the idea of controls on the movement of chilled meats between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland as ‘bonkers’.
‘I think that’s a nonsense. I think we’ve got a very good sausage industry in this country, we’ve got the highest standards of food hygiene in the world,’ he told LBC.
Earlier, Mr Sefcovic raised the prospect of a trade war – with Brussels imposing tariffs and quotas on British exports – if the UK failed to meet its international obligations under the the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The deal – intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border with the Republic – means that Northern Ireland remains part of the EU single market, which in turn requires checks on some goods coming from Great Britain.
But Mr Sefcovic – who will hold talks with Brexit minister Lord Frost on Wednesday – said there had been ‘numerous and fundamental gaps’ in the UK’s implementation of the agreement.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said that if Britain took further unilateral actions the EU ‘will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations’.
Asked yesterday if the President had made his alarm about the situation with the Northern Ireland Protocol clear, Mr Johnson said simply: ‘No, he didn’t.’
He added: ‘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.’
Claims of a row over the Northern Ireland Protocol and the post-Brexit trading relationship between the UK and the EU had threatened to overshadow the G7. Asked yesterday if the President had made his alarm about the situation with the Northern Ireland Protocol clear, Mr Johnson said simply: ‘No, he didn’t’
Meanwhile, a senior US administration official also tried to play down the row yesterday, insisting that the President had not come ‘to give a lecture’ on the issue.
‘The US is not in those negotiations and not seeking to be in those negotiations,’ the official said.
‘We are instead a strong and vigorous supporter of practical, creative, flexible, results-oriented negotiations that, at the end of the day, produce a result that protects all of the gains that the people of Northern Ireland have made.
Pair discuss Harry Dunn
The Prime Minister raised the case of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn in his first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden.
Boris Johnson reiterated that the UK wants justice for Harry, 19, who was killed when a car on the wrong side of the road crashed into his motorbike outside RAF Croughton, a US intelligence base in Northamptonshire, in August 2019.
Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official at the base, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving but had sought diplomatic immunity and returned to the US, sparking an international controversy. The Dunn family said they were ‘very pleased’ to see the case raised at the ‘first available opportunity’.
They have challenged Mrs Sacoolas’s immunity, which will be heard in the Court of Appeal next year. Mr Dunn’s parents have also brought a civil claim against the suspect and her husband in Virginia in the US.
‘It will not be confrontational or adversarial or… he didn’t come here to give a lecture. He came merely to communicate what he believes very, very deeply about peace in Northern Ireland.’
It was alleged yesterday that Mr Biden had ordered officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the UK only last week over its continued opposition to the full implementation of the Protocol.
It was reported that Yael Lempert, America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, had told Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, that the Government was ‘inflaming’ tensions with its opposition to checks at Northern Irish ports.
Minutes of the meeting on June 3 were said to have revealed that Lord Frost was told of Mr Biden’s ‘great concern’ over his stance.
It was said to have resulted in a ‘demarche’ – a formal diplomatic communication or protest.
The disclosure of Mr Biden’s apparent protest sparked anger in some quarters yesterday, with new DUP leader Edwin Poots saying that the President’s alleged intervention was ‘not well informed’.
He accused America of potentially ‘ignoring’ problems with the Protocol. Mr Poots warned BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘America may be prepared to drive a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement.’
A Whitehall source played down the significance of the demarche, saying it was ‘not uncommon’ for allies to voice their disagreements in diplomatic notes.
There was irritation at the leaking of the note, with some suspecting it was done by anti-Brexit officials to damage the Government.
Brexiteer MP Peter Bone said: ‘If he is just urging a resolution of the dispute, that’s fine – we want a resolution. But he should not be taking the EU’s side.’
Pro-Remain Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said: ‘I’m surprised that the President decided to enter this debate so publicly at a very sensitive time for all parties.’
But Irish premier Micheal Martin said Mr Biden’s rebuke was a call to do the ‘sensible thing’ and resolve trade issues with the EU.
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