Joe Biden told to ‘butt out’ of Brexit talk after Irish border comments

Joe Biden has been told to “butt out” of Brexit negotiations, after accusations that President-elect was trying to bully the UK.

Joe Biden delivers a Thanksgiving address at the Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 25. Picture: Chandan Khanna/AFP

British TV host Piers Morgan has slammed Joe Biden for meddling in Brexit, telling the presumptive US President-elect to “butt out” of the UK’s business.

Morgan, writing in The Daily Mail, was responding to comments by the Democratic former Vice President on Tuesday that America did not want to see a “guarded border” between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after the UK leaves the European Union.

“We do not want a guarded border,” Mr Biden, an Irish-American, told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware.

“We’ve worked too long to get Ireland worked out. The idea of having a border north and south once again being closed is just not right, we’ve just got to keep the border open.”

He said he has spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with the Irish Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, “with others and I’ve talked with the French”.

“So, let me get this straight – the incoming President of the United States has been hitting the phones ordering European allies how they should be negotiating something that has nothing directly to do with him or America?” Morgan wrote.

“Sorry, but this is completely unacceptable.”

The 78-year-old had raised alarm bells among UK officials prior to the election for comments about the 1998 Good Friday Agreement – which was in large part brokered by the US – suggesting a Biden administration would be more likely to side with the European Union.

“We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit,” he tweeted in September.

“Any trade deal between the US and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”

At the time, a spokesman for Mr Johnson suggested Mr Biden did not understand the issue.

“We continue to remain absolutely committed to no hard border and no border infrastructure between the Republic and Northern Ireland,” he told The Sun.

Asked if Mr Biden was wrong, the spokesman replied, “We will continue to work with our US partners to ensure our position is understood but the whole point of this – as the Prime Minister has set out – is to make sure the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is upheld.”

Morgan accused Mr Biden of “already throwing his weight around” eight weeks before being formally inaugurated.

“And he couldn’t have chosen a more incendiary issue to immerse himself into than Brexit – the UK’s incredibly controversial decision to break away from the European Union,” he said.

Anti-Brexit protesters gather at the border between Derry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland on April 18, 2019. Picture: Paul Faith/AFP

As final negotiations take place between the EU and UK over their post-Brexit trading relationships, one key remaining problem is the Irish border.

The north of Ireland is part of the UK, while the south remains a separate entity and part of the EU – raising the question of how the north can leave the EU without a physical trading border put in place.

“This is a very complex question, and one that has far-reaching consequences, not least for the people in Ireland who’ve enjoyed widespread peace and prosperity since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 between the British and Irish governments, chaired by US Special Envoy George Mitchell, that brought an end to the violent sectarian troubles that had ravaged Ireland since the 1960s,” Morgan wrote.

“Most of them don’t want a return to armed guards patrolling borders, bringing with it the strong possibility of renewed conflict, as well as connected issues like drug smuggling and migration.”

Morgan said Mr Biden’s comments in September constituted “a direct threat, and it’s one he’s now repeated”.

“The only difference is that he’s President-Elect, and the man who will be US President from January 20,” he said.

He agreed that nobody “wants to go back to a guarded border”, but took issue with Mr Biden’s decision to speak out now.

Morgan, who opposed Brexit, likened it to former President Barack Obama’s warning prior to the referendum that the UK would go to the “back of the queue” if it voted to leave.

Those comments were largely viewed as having backfired, contributing to the Brexit victory.

Similarly, President Donald Trump was criticised for repeated pro-Brexit interventions.

“The British, like Americans, don’t appreciate being bullied by a foreign power,” Morgan wrote.

“Now it’s happening all over again, with Joe Biden trying to dictate how the Brexit deal is concluded, before he’s even taken the oath of office. I’ve read considerable visceral fury on social media today from Brexiters incandescent that the President-Elect is poking his nose into the negotiations at such a vital time, and clearly trying to influence them.”

He said he had “sympathy with that anger”.

“Can you imagine how Americans would react if a British Prime Minister tried to tell them how to control their border?” he wrote.

“Butt out, Mr Biden – this is none of your business.”