45 US Senators send a letter to PM Boris Johnson “pledging unwavering support” to the UK.
How upbeat does the USA have to be about the UK for the BBC to notice?
- 45 US Senators send a letter to PM “pledging unwavering support” to the UK
2. US Secretary of State tells Foreign Secretary Raab: “The US poised at the doorstep, pen in hand, ready to sign a deal”
3. US Ambassador to the UK: “no limit to how much the U.S.-UK trade & economic partnership can grow”
Last week 45 US Senators led by Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas wrote a letter to new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Here is the press release out of Washington.
“Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and 44 of his Senate colleagues have sent a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging unwavering support for the United Kingdom as it exits the European Union in the coming months. The letter calls for a new bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. It also reiterates the importance of U.S.-UK cooperation within the NATO security alliance and the “Five Eyes” intelligence partnership.
“The letter was also signed by Senators Barrasso (WY), Blackburn (TN), Boozman (AR), Braun (IN), Burr (NC), Capito (WV), Cassidy (LA), Collins (ME), Cornyn (TX), Cramer (ND), Crapo (ID), Cruz (TX), Daines (MT), Enzi (WY), Ernst (IA), Fischer (NE), Graham (SC), Grassley (IA), Hawley (MO), Hoeven (ND), Hyde-Smith (MS), Inhofe (OK), Isakson (GA), Johnson (WI), Kennedy (LA), Lankford (OK), Lee (UT), McSally (AZ), Murkowski (AK), Perdue (GA), Portman (OH), Risch (ID), Roberts (KS), Rounds (SD), Rubio (FL), Sasse (NE), Scott (FL), Scott (SC), Sullivan (AK), Thune (SD), Tillis (NC), Toomey (PA), Wicker (MS), and Young (IN).”
The above list includes many senior names from the Senate including Committee Chairman,
Senator Cotton is a veteran of the 101st Airborne and served in Iraq. He is on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Committee on the Budget, and the Senate Joint Economic Committee.
Meanwhile at the BBC…
The BBC did not seem very interested in Senator Cotton’s letter to the British Prime Minister. Instead, they gave precedence on their flagship “Today Programme” on Radio 4 to a former member of the Obama administration, Larry Summers. Mr. Summers told them: “Britain has no leverage, Britain is desperate… it needs an agreement very soon.”
Mr. Summers’ view was more in keeping with the BBC’s anti-Brexit editorial line, even though Mr. Summers has no power and is a former official. Although the BBC reported the letter, the views of 45 current members of the US Senate, with considerable power, were apparently of less interest to the BBC.
At 3 pm yesterday, the excellent US Ambassador to the Court of St James, Woody Johnson, posted a typically positive tweet about the economics of the relationship between the US and the UK.
Stronger every day! There is no limit to how much the U.S.-UK trade & economic partnership can grow. #SharedProsperity
And the good news just keeps on coming
Yesterday evening British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab penned a piece for the Telegraph (behind a paywall as usual, sadly), in which he extolled the opportunities ahead. It is entitled “A truly global future awaits us after Brexit”.
Here is part of what he has to say about the UK-US relationship:
Dominic Raab
“In the US, President Trump told me how much America values its close friendship with Britain, his high regard for our Prime Minister, and his enthusiasm for a free trade deal with the UK. How serious are they? After our meeting, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the US was poised ‘at the doorstep, pen in hand’, ready to sign a deal — which would boost business and enhance consumer choice on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I also met Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Adviser John Bolton, reflecting the fact that our relationship goes far beyond trade. Crucially, we work together to defend our shared values and to respond to security threats — whether by protecting international shipping from the menace of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or striving to secure North Korea’s denuclearisation.”
For some years the EU has shown a steady move against the USA — in trade, in defense, and in foreign policy — and it seems possible that there may slowly be a re-alignment of global forces.
There are several areas where interests are diverging, including Germany’s and the EU’s increasing reliance on Russian gas pipelines, the EU’s increasing insistence on social, political, and protectionist conditions in trade agreements, the EU’s bizarre love affair with the Iranian regime, and the EU’s increasing moves to replace NATO in Europe with the EU Defence Union.
Brexit gives the UK the opportunity to regain its position on the world stage as an independent power. In doing so, the UK has many possibilities for alignments. Not the least of these could be a much stronger trading relationship with the USA, to say nothing of other strategic objectives.
We certainly are not at the back of the line now are we?
[ Sources: Senator Cotton’s website and office | Daily Telegraph article by the Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP | Ambassador Johnson ]
