Brexit boost as US Speaker backs free trade deal with UK
THERESA May received a major boost last night after a leading US politician backed a swift free trade deal with the UK.
Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a senior member of Donald Trump’s Republican party, said Washington wanted to strike a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible.
In a speech to the Policy Exchange think-tank in central London, Mr Ryan said such a deal would ‘further tap into the great potential between our two people’.
He also praised Mrs May as a bold leader and called for a close relationship between Britain and the EU postBrexit. On international affairs he warned against Russian aggression and called for Nato countries such as Germany to meet the 2 per cent target on military spending. ‘Now that Article 50 has been invoked, the UK and the EU will determine the best path forward over the course of these negotiations,’ he said.
‘We want the parties to come together and strike a lasting agreement, a strong UK-EU relationship is in all of our best interests.’
He backed the proposed EU/ US trade deal then added: ‘At the same time we are committed to working with President Trump and your Government to achieve a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Britain.
‘This is one of the bipartisan messages I bring with me, I bring Democrats and Republicans here to this room to this country today, to say that the United States stands ready to forge a new trade agreement with Great Britain as soon as possible so that we may further tap into the great potential between our two people.’
Mr Ryan, who is leading a cross-party congressional delegation to the UK, launched a pointed attack on Russia for supporting Syrian aggression in the Middle East.
By launching a chemical weapons attack, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was guilty of ‘slaughtering his people – and their children – with the cruellest weapons known.
He said Iran and Russia were guilty of being ‘complicit in these crimes against humanity’. Moscow was guilty of ‘challenging the sovereignty of our allies’ in Eastern and Central Europe and of ‘interfering’ in elections in the US and in Europe ‘as we speak’.
‘The actions of Russia are not the actions of a friend. We cannot allow a provocateur in Moscow to threaten our allies or interests,’ said Mr Ryan. ‘This is a direct affront to the post-Cold War global order.
On Nato he said: ‘Please let there be no ambiguity here: Nato is essential. It has been and remains critical to the safety and security of the United States, Great Britain, and the world.
‘And it must be strengthened. Member states should follow the lead of the US, UK, Poland, Estonia, and Greece and contribute two per cent of their GDP to defence spending.’
Mr Ryan, a former Republican vice-presidential candidate, clashed with Mr Trump during the US election campaign like much of the party’s establishment.
Mrs May has won agreement in principle from the President for a free trade deal.