President Joe Biden spoke of the desire to “strengthen the special relationship” between the US and UK in his first call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The pair spoke on Saturday evening, with Mr Johnson congratulating Mr Biden on his inauguration, and warmly welcomed his decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change and the World Health Organisation – both abandoned by Donald Trump.
A Downing Street spokesman added the potential benefits of a post-Brexit free trade deal were also discussed in the call.
Great to speak to President @JoeBiden this evening. I look forward to deepening the longstanding alliance between our two countries as we drive a green and sustainable recovery from COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Y4P3G74PPz
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 23, 2021
He added: “The Prime Minister praised President Biden’s early action on tackling climate change and commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
“Building on the UK and US’ long history of cooperation in security and defence, the leaders re-committed to the NATO alliance and our shared values in promoting human rights and protecting democracy.
READ MORE: Who is Jill Biden, the new First Lady of the United States?
“The leaders looked forward to meeting in person as soon as the circumstances allow, and to working together through the G7, G20 and Cop26 this year.Following the call, Mr Johnson tweeted: “Great to speak to President Joe Biden this evening.
“I look forward to deepening the long-standing alliance between our two countries as we drive a green and sustainable recovery from Covid19.”
A statement from the White House made no mention of discussion on trade.
It said: “The President conveyed his intention to strengthen the special relationship between our countries and revitalize transatlantic ties, underscoring the critical role of Nato to our collective defence and shared values.
“President Biden also noted the importance of cooperation, including through multilateral organisations, on shared challenges such as combatting climate change, containing Covid-19, and ensuring global health security.
“He noted his readiness to work closely with Prime Minister Johnson as the United Kingdom hosts the G-7 and United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this year. The leaders also discussed the need for coordination on shared foreign policy priorities, including China, Iran, and Russia.”
It is reported that Mr Johnson is the first European leader to have spoken to the new president, after he had calls on Friday with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Donald Trump with Boris Johnson (Steve Parsons/PA)
There will be some relief in Downing Street at the early call amid concerns about the way Mr Johnson’s perceived closeness to Mr Trump would be seen by the new administration.
Following Mr Biden’s inauguration this week, No 10 sought to play down Mr Biden’s decision to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office – even though Mr Johnson had criticised Mr Obama when he did the same thing.
READ MORE: Tearful Joe Biden makes final speech before setting off for Washington DC
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Oval Office is the president’s private office and it’s up to the president to decorate it as he wishes.
“We’re in no doubt of the importance that President Biden places on the UK and US relationship and the Prime Minister looks forward to having a close relationship with him.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel