FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
respect for the agreement and pre-
venting the return of a h ard bor-
der.”
Johnson has potentially upset
that delicate balance with legisla-
tion to carry out his version of a
Brexit, called the Internal Market
Bill, which one of his own minis-
ters called a v iolation of interna-
tional law. In the event that Britain
cannot strike a trade deal with the
European Union, the bill would
place a p riority on the free flow of
goods between Northern Ireland
and Britain, which in turn could
reintroduce border checks to the
island — between the Republic of
Ireland, a part of the European
Union, and Northern Ireland, a
part of Britain.
In their 20-minute telephone
call, Biden and Johnson sought
common ground, “promoting
global health security; pursuing a
sustainable economic recovery;
combating climate change;
strengthening democracy, and
working together on issues such as
the Western Balkans and
Ukraine,” according to the Biden
transition team.But there is a question about
how much Washington will need
London in a post-Brexit world.
Before Brexit, U.S. administra-
tions could count on Britain to
serve as an ally and proxy in Eu-
rope. But in a speech Tuesday in
the House of Lords, former British
prime minister John Major
warned that Johnson’s Brexit
makes Britain less important.
“Suddenly, we are no longer an
irreplaceable bridge between Eu-
rope and America. We are now less
relevant to them both,” said Major,
a member of Johnson’s Conserva-
tive Party.
“We are a top second-rank pow-
er, but over the next half-century,
however well we perform, our
small size and population makes it
likely we will be passed by the
growth of other, far larger coun-
tries,” Major said. “In recent dec-
ades, we have consoled ourselves
that we ‘punch above our weight’
in international affairs. I think
that was true — but that was then,
and this is now.”
Simon Fraser, a f ormer top offi-
cial in Britain’s Foreign Office,called a B iden win “problematic
for our government,” according to
the Guardian newspaper.
Fraser said, “This is a govern-
ment that was born of the disrup-
tion of Brexit in 2016, just as
Trumpism was a reflection of that.
Trump supported Brexit. My un-
derstanding is the relationship be-
tween London and the Biden team
is not that strong.”
Robin Niblett, director of
Chatham House, a London think
tank, said in an interview that it
was unlikely there would be natu-
ral chemistry between Johnson
and Biden. “Biden and Biden’s
people in their professionalism
and moderation are very different
to Boris Johnson and his booster-
ism and almost nostalgic view of
Britain’s place in the world, so it’s
not a n atural marriage,” he said.
Still, Niblett said that there was
a sense that Biden’s administra-
tion “will treat Boris Johnson very
well, providing you don’t cut
across the Irish question.” But
when the Biden White House
looks to Europe, it will look to the
European Union first, not Britain,Niblett said.
Tom Tugendhat, a C onservative
Party lawmaker and chair of the
foreign affairs select committee,
dismissed the argument that Brit-
ain matters less to Americans now.
“I’ve heard it before, and I
didn’t believe it then, and I don’t
believe it now,” he said in an inter-
view. “That has been a consistent
line of people who believe in de-
cline since 1945, and yet somehow
it turns out that two countries that
share a v ision of the world, with an
understanding of international
outreach and willingness to act
around the world, find themselves
standing together rather often.”
British officials said the two
countries will continue to work
together — as they did through the
Trump administration — on mili-
tary, security and intelligence
portfolios. In a Biden administra-
tion, the Brits see a r ole with the
Americans on tackling climate
change, defending Hong Kong
democrats, curbing Russia and
bolstering NATO.
[email protected]
[email protected]ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson talk last year in Biarritz, France. Johnson’s administration had hoped another
Trump term would help secure a U .S. free-trade deal just when Johnson needed it mo st, as Britain exits the European Union at year’s end.BY WILLIAM BOOTH
AND KARLA ADAMlondon — During the height of
the U.S. campaign, Britain’s for-
mer ambassador in Washington
Kim Darroch revealed that Prime
Minister Boris Johnson and his
government were expecting — if
not hoping — that President
Trump would be reelected.
Before months of pandemic
changed the math, Downing
Street was imagining that four
more years of Trump would
smooth the way for a f ast-track
free-trade deal with the United
States just when Johnson needed
it the most, as Britain exits the
European Union at year’s end.
But the win by former vice pres-
ident Joe Biden has charged the
“special relationship” between the
two leaders and two closely allied
countries with what the British
might call a c ertain... awkward-
ness.
Johnson and President-elect
Biden have never met, and though
the British prime minister sent his
congratulations, the message was
somewhat bungled. In the official
tweet from Johnson’s of fice, there
were faintly visible words in the
text, a ghost of an earlier, edited
message, that congratulated
Trump instead.
The goof was first spotted by the
Guido Fawkes blog in Britain. The
prime minister’s press office de-
scribed it as “technical error,” ex-
plaining the government had pre-
pared two different statements be-
cause the election was so close.
Biden, for his part, called John-
son last year the “physical and
emotional clone of Donald
Trump” in private remarks widely
reported in British press.
Johnson could use a few friends
these days. His aides are warring;
England is in lockdown again;
Britain continues to tally the high-
est death toll from the coronavirus
in Europe. And the British prime
minister still hasn’t secured a
post-Brexit trade deal with the
European Union.
But with Trump’s defeat, there’s
no longer any reason for the Euro-
peans to fear that Britain will get a
quicker, better deal with the
Americans. No longer can John-
son threaten Brussels negotiators
— or calm his fellow Tories — w ith
the feint: Okay, so long, mes amis,
we will do better with the Yanks.
Johnson is the chief cheerlead-
er for Brexit. His legacy will be
forever tied to the departure.
Biden, however, has made no se-
cret he thinks Britain’s exit from
Europe isn’t a g reat idea, sharing
the skepticism of his former boss,
President Barack Obama, who
traveled to London in April 2016 to
give a speech urging Britain to
remain in the European Union.
This week, Biden included
Johnson in the first round of calls
placed by the former vice presi-
dent to Western leaders, including
those of France, Germany and, it
did not go unnoticed, Ireland.
In the call to Johnson, Biden
stressed his support for the 1998
Good Friday Agreement in Ire-
land, which was brokered by Pres-
ident Bill Clinton and ended dec-
ades of sectarian bloodshed.
Biden emphasized the impor-
tance of implementing Brexit in a
way that supports the still ongoing
peace process, British officials
said. In its readout of the call,
Downing Street did not mention
Northern Ireland.
Biden has made a b ig deal of his
Irish heritage. And alongside
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-
Calif.), he has warned the British
that there will be no U.S.-Britain
trade deal if Brexit undercuts the
free movement of people and
goods in an Ireland where the old
militarized land frontier between
north and south has been re-
moved, and the border today is
invisible.
Candidate Biden warned that
“any trade deal between the U.S.
and U.K. must be contingent uponJohnson’s plans for
Brexit are roiled by
Biden’s election win
Prime minister likely to
miss Trump’s support in
negotiations with E.U.Rep. Ilhan OmarMonday, Nov. 16 at 11:30 a.m. ETWatch Live: wapo.st/capeupomarLiveK8P0V4L