No 10 shrugs off fears that PM is far down list of leaders to contact

DOWNING Street insisted it would not be “concerned” if Boris Johnson was not one of the first world leaders to speak to US president-elect Joe Biden, amid fears over the special relationship.

Sources close Mr Biden said that the Prime Minister was unlikely to be at the “top of the list” of those to call, with British diplomats expecting European leaders to take priority. It is anticipated that Mr Biden will speak to Emmanuel Macron, the French president, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, before picking up the phone to speak to the Prime Minister.

No 10 yesterday confirmed that Mr Johnson had yet to speak to the next US president. Asked if there were fears over a late call, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No, that’s not something that we’re concerned about. As the PM set out, the UK and the US have much more in common than divides us, and our countries will stand together to protect our shared values.”

At a press conference yesterday, the Prime Minister congratulated the president-elect and said he had “no doubt” that UK-US relations would continue to be “very, very strong”.

Mr Biden has previously described Mr Johnson as a “physical and emotional clone” of Donald Trump, and there are fears the UK-US special relationship could break down over Brexit.

Mr Biden, who has Irish roots and has been outspoken on the Good Friday Agreement, is expected to call Mr Martin before Mr Johnson.

Brendan Boyle, Democratic congressman for Pennsylvania, last night said there would be no US-UK trade deal, “period”, if the UK government moves forward with the Internal Market Bill.

“This is a clear red l i ne for us, from president-elect Biden and from Speaker [Nancy Pelosi],” said Mr Boyle, a prominent Irish-american figure in Washington.

“If the UK decides to essentially rip up the Withdrawal Agreement that it negotiated and signed less than a year ago, then there will be no trade deal. Period,” he told Channel 4 News.

The threat was the first from elected colleagues of Mr Biden’s since he was declared winner of the election on Saturday.

During his successful campaign, Mr Biden warned that a US-UK trade deal was “contingent” on the prevention of a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland. Mr Biden, whose ancestral home is in Co Mayo, has warned that the Good Friday Agreement cannot “become a casualty of Brexit”.

Donald Trump first called Theresa May, then the prime minister, the day after he was elected.

His team did not specify the order in which calls were made, but Mrs May was reported to be the ninth leader he spoke to.