A chillier relationship

Given that he could soon become leader of our closest ally, there has been surprisingly little interest in Joe Biden’s politics on this side of the Atlantic. To the Left, it is enough that he stands a chance of defeating Donald Trump. But Mr Biden’s warning that a US-UK free trade deal is contingent on respect for the Good Friday Agreement is a signal that the occupant of the White House will not always be as well-disposed to this country as the current president has been.

It is regrettable that Mr Biden chose to intervene in these terms, because Brexit is not the threat to peace in Northern Ireland that he apparently believes it to be. All along, it has been Brussels that has weaponised the province as a means of keeping the UK aligned with the EU, with blind indifference to Unionist or Nationalist opinion. Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, has been in Washington to reassure Democrats that the UK remains committed to the Belfast Agreement, a task that arguably should have been performed before this became an international row.

Mr Biden, however, will be making his own political calculations. Of Irish descent, he is only the latest Democratic politician to court the Irish American vote by wrapping himself in the flag of Irish nationalism. Should he win, it is unlikely that he will adopt explicitly anti-british positions, but there is no guarantee that Mr Biden will prioritise the special relationship over other ties, on Brexit and on much else besides.

Mr Trump may have his faults, but he has never shied away from proclaiming his commitment to the UK. He is also alone among foreign leaders in warmly supporting Brexit. Anglo-american relations may soon be notably chillier.