Leading Democrats, including an advisor for presidential candidate Joe Biden, have come out against the British Brexit negotiations stance, warning it may jeopardise a possible trade deal under a Biden presidency.
The Northern Ireland secretary for the United Kingdom, Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the British government may need to “break international law in a very specific and limited way” in altering the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) from the EU on border controls in order to secure “unfettered” access to the British market for British citizens in Northern Ireland.
Commenting on the Northern Ireland dispute on Tuesday, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage wrote: “Clearly from the very beginning the Northern Irish protocol was unacceptable, in fact, the whole Withdrawal Agreement was unacceptable. I said so loudly last October but nobody was in the mood to listen.”
The agreement, which puts up barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom and gives the EU a continued, colonial-style influence over the British province’s legal environment despite Brexit, was struck off the back of a then-Remainer dominated House of Commons refusing to back any form of EU deal which would have resulted in a genuine break with the bloc.
Antony Blinken, a senior foreign policy adviser for the Joe Biden presidential campaign, claimed that such a move may impact the Good Friday Peace Agreement, writing on social media that the 77-year-old former vice president is “committed to preserving the hard-earned peace [and] stability in Northern Ireland.”
“As the UK and EU work out their relationship, any arrangements must protect the Good Friday Agreement and prevent the return of a hard border,” Blinken insisted.
Sources within the Biden campaign said that were the British to abandon sections of the Withdrawal Agreement in response to the EU refusing to agree a trade deal, it could risk destabilising the 1998 peace settlement in Northern Ireland and would serve to create a “major impediment” in the Special Relationship between Britain and America should Biden defeat Trump in the election in November, according to The Guardian.
As opposed to President Trump, who has been an ardent supporter of the pro-sovereignty movement, globalism-inclined Biden has been a frequent critic of Brexit.
In 2016, following the EU referendum result, then Vice President Biden said: “I must say we preferred a different outcome,” although he went on to claim he “fully respect[ed] the decision they have made.”
“Had I been a Member of Parliament, had I been a British citizen, I would have voted against leaving,” Biden said again in 2018.
The hopes of securing a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States may therefore rely on President Trump winning a second term as president, as it is unlikely that the Democrat-led House of Representatives would ratify any deal before the U.S. election in November.
On Tuesday, the Democrat chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee in the House, Richard Neal, said in a statement: “I urge both sides to uphold the terms of this joint agreement, particularly with respect to the treatment of Northern Ireland, in accordance with international law.”
“I sincerely hope the British government upholds the rule of law and delivers on the commitments it made during Brexit negotiations, particularly in regard to the Irish border protocols,” Representative Neal added.
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