Boris Johnson: UK and US share ‘common ground’ on Northern Ireland

CORNWALL — Boris Johnson denied that Joe Biden expressed alarm over the U.K.’s decision to delay implementing parts of the Brexit deal in Northern Ireland as the pair met for bilateral talks in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summit.

The U.K. prime minister insisted it was “absolutely common ground” that both sides wanted to uphold the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as Britain remains at loggerheads with the EU over trade arrangements — in particular the Northern Ireland protocol which the U.K. argues is unworkable in full.

Johnson said: “The United States, Washington, the U.K., plus the EU have one thing we absolutely all want to do which is uphold the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and make sure we keep the balance of the peace process going, and that’s absolutely common ground and I’m optimistic that we can do that.”

He was speaking after the two men met face-to-face for the first time — on the mainland, after they had to abort their trip to the planned backdrop of St Michael’s Mount, an island off the coast near Penzance, due to bad weather.

The encounter was being closely watched for any sign that the U.S. president would communicate his displeasure at the U.K.’s stance on post-Brexit trade arrangements, following a report in The Times that Washington issued London with a highly unusual diplomatic rebuke earlier this month. 

A Downing Street spokesperson said the two leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and to protecting the gains of the peace process.”

The leaders agreed that both the EU and the U.K. had a responsibility to “find pragmatic solutions to allow unencumbered trade” between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, the spokesperson said. 

The Northern Ireland protocol, a key part of the deal that established a trade border between Northern Ireland and Britain to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, has become a major point of contention between the U.K. and the EU. 

The two sides disagree on the execution of sanitary checks for goods coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, with the U.K. unilaterally extending grace periods for some checks on certain products for six months.