Brexit stunt shows why UK wants out, says US
American ambassador delivers broadside over Luxembourg ‘trap’ set for Johnson
BORIS JOHNSON’S treatment at the hands of Luxembourg’s prime minister is a reminder of why the UK wants to leave the European Union, the US ambassador said last night.
In a show of solidarity, Woody Johnson said that having “built the greatest empire” and “held off the Nazis”, the British “didn’t need a lecture from anybody on how to run their country ... and that includes Brussels”.
He added: “We stand with the people of the UK and we always will.”
It came after Xavier Bettel, the Luxembourg prime minister, was accused of “disrespecting” Britain after he tried to force Mr Johnson to hold a news conference in a street full of anti-brexit protesters, prompting the Prime Minister to pull out.
Speaking at the Carlton Club yesterday, the US ambassador praised Mr Johnson’s handling of the situation, insisting that “he knew he was walking into a trap”. “He knew this was a set-up. Of course he knew, but he’s British. He said, ‘What the hell. I can do this’.
“I thought the people in Luxembourg accomplished something that maybe even Boris couldn’t accomplish: show this is not where (the British) want to be, over there, when they treat us like that – your Prime Minister.”
Addressing a Conservative Foreign & Commonwealth Council lunch at the private members’ club in Pall Mall, the ambassador said that while “some had cast doubt” on the British people’s decision to leave the EU, “the US administration believes it’s the start of a new golden era for the UK.”
He said: “The people who built the greatest empire, the people who held off the Nazis, who contributed so much to the progress of mankind, you can go down a long list – they don’t need a lecture from anybody on how to run their country, and that includes Brussels.”
Mr Bettel’s “empty chairing” of Mr Johnson appeared to cause unease in Brussels and Berlin yesterday.
Norbert Röttgen, an ally of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and chairman of the German foreign affairs committee, wrote on Twitter: “Xavier Bettel’s speech yesterday did not serve the European cause. His public venting ignored that a deal is still in everyone’s interest. Even without a deal there will be a post-brexit life, which means that right now everyone needs to behave in a way that avoids animosity.”
It came as Mr Bettel met Emmanuel Macron, the French president, for talks at the Elysée Palace in Paris.
Senior diplomatic sources told The Daily Telegraph that it was never acceptable to embarrass a country such as the UK and that a solution should have been found to hold the press conference elsewhere.
EU sources expressed doubts that a similar farce would have happened in Paris or Berlin. “I think leaders of bigger countries might not have chosen the Brexit negotiations as a platform to raise their own profile,” one EU diplomat in Brussels said.
Another EU source warned that the outcry could actually help Mr Johnson domestically. “The main problem is that this only reinforces the ‘them
versus us’ narrative that Johnson has used before,” said the insider.
There was also anger that Mr Bettel’s behaviour overshadowed Mr Johnson’s earlier meeting with Jean-claude Juncker, the EU Commission president, where he offered an olive branch by declaring that negotiations would continue “at high speed” in a bid to build a sense of momentum behind talks before the Oct 31 Brexit deadline.
Yesterday, a government source revealed that the UK negotiating team has been showing Brussels papers with proposals of backstop alternatives – but not leaving them with the EU because “once you share it with 27 countries, you’re not in control of the document”. The source said: “We showed them the text of the Northern Ireland protocol, without the backstop in it, to show them the precision of removal that we’re looking for.” Proposals the UK has discussed concerned areas such as agri-food, the source added.
Ambassador Johnson insisted: “The US cannot wait to do a deal. Together with Britain, we are going to show the world how free and fair trade can promote peace and prosperity around the world. So it’s full steam ahead...the minute the UK is out, America is in.”
Referring to a claim by Barack Obama, that the US would not prioritise a UK trade deal, he said: “It’s not back of the queue days any more, sorry.”
Last night, Yougov polling showed Mr Johnson’s popularity rating rose five points since he took office, from minus 21 to minus 16. Jeremy Corbyn is polling at minus 49, down from a high of zero in June 2017. n Separately last night, Mr Corbyn said he would stay neutral and let the people decide on Brexit if elected prime minister. He pledged to carry out whatever the electorate decides in a second referendum in which a new deal, negotiated by his party, and Remain would be on the ballot paper. Writing in The Guardian, he suggested that he would not campaign for any outcome in a potential second referendum.