Obama’s grim warnings on Brexit falling apart
BARACK Obama’s dire warnings about Brexit were unravelling last night as he admitted the US would do a trade deal with the UK – and our defence and intelligence special relationship would be unchanged.
Downing Street and the Remain campaign were delighted on Friday night when the US president said the UK would be at the ‘back of the queue’ if it voted to quit the Brussels club.
His remarks went much further than expected – and triggered claims, later denied, that he had been reading from a No. 10 script. But the Out campaign yesterday seized on an apparent clarification from Mr Obama, who said that he had simply meant an independent Britain would not be able to do a trade deal faster than the EU.
It also emerged that there are major stumbling blocks in the EU and the US reaching a trade deal of its own – with the Germans warning one may never be struck. This means there is no queue for Britain to be at the back of, Eurosceptics said.
In an interview with the BBC, it was put to the president that his remarks had been interpreted as meaning that all other applicants for a trade deal with the US would then take precedence over the UK.
Mr Obama replied: ‘They are wrong to do that. My simple point is, is that it’s hard to negotiate trade deals.
‘It takes a long time, and the point is that the UK would not be able to negotiate something with the United States faster than the EU.
‘We wouldn’t abandon our efforts to negotiate a trade deal with our largest trading partner, the European market, but rather it could be five years from now, ten years from now before we were able to actually get something done.’
Justice minister Dominic Raab said the president had backtracked on his original ‘back of the queue’ claim. He pointed out that, given the US was not in talks about a trade deal with anyone other than Brussels, there was no queue to be at the back of. Mr Raab added that, with talks between the US and Brussels stalled, striking a quick deal with the UK could help America to force the EU’s hand.
In another boost for Leave, Mr Obama said there would be no change to the special relationship on intelligence gathering – under which MI5, MI6 and GCHQ share secrets with their US counterparts.
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton also said Britain should not vote to leave. The presidential hopeful’s adviser Jake Sullivan said: ‘She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU.’