Rishi Sunak says UK-US relationship is in ‘great shape’ – after White House denies Biden is ‘anti-British’
Rishi Sunak says the relationship between the UK and US is “in great shape” after he held talks with Joe Biden, despite strong criticism of the president from one of Northern Ireland’s main parties.
Mr Biden arrived in the region late last night for his trip to the island of Ireland to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, and was greeted by the prime minister on the tarmac at Belfast International.
But the president, who often refers to his Irish roots, faced a swathe of criticism from senior figures in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who claimed he was “anti-British” and “hates the UK”.
The White House was forced to deny the accusations, calling them “simply untrue”, and insisting Mr Biden was “a strong supporter” of relations between the countries.
Commentators have also questioned the lack of time Mr Sunak and his US counterpart were spending together on the four-day trip, with only the greeting on Tuesday night and a 45-minute coffee at the Belfast Grand Central Hotel on Wednesday – dubbed a “bi-latte” by one US newspaper – in the diary.
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However, the PM pointed to the fact it was the president’s fourth visit to the UK since taking office, and the pair already had two further meetings set for May and June.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Sunak said: “[Mr Biden] and I had a very good discussion today about a range of issues, [like] economic investment in Northern Ireland, but also a range of foreign policy issues, [like] the importance of economic security, and that comes on the back of a meeting I had with him last month in the US.
“We are very close partners and allies, we cooperate and talk on a range of things – whether that is supporting Ukraine or as I said economic security.
“I think, actually, the relationship is in great shape and the president and I have lots we are working on together.”
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Bilat or bi-latte? Sunak meets Biden
Mr Biden’s visit comes amid ongoing paralysis in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, with the DUP refusing to re-join the power sharing agreement over the UK government’s post-Brexit arrangements on trade.
Mr Sunak stuck a new deal with the EU back in February, known as the Windsor Framework, in an attempt to solve ongoing issues in the region under the Norther Ireland Protocol.
But despite it getting the overall approval of the Commons, the DUP voted against it, saying Northern Ireland would still be subject to some EU laws, threatening its place in the UK’s internal market.
President Biden met the leaders of the region’s five main political parties – including the DUP’s Sir Jeffrey Donaldson – after his talk with Mr Sunak and before delivering an address at Ulster University this afternoon to commemorate the Good Friday Agreement – the deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed between republicans and loyalists.
During his carefully worded speech, Mr Biden said Brexit had created “complex challenges” for Northern Ireland, but said gave his backing to the Windsor Framework, saying it addressed “the practical realities” of Brexit.
The president then urged a return to power sharing at Stormont, saying: “As a friend, I hope it’s not too presumptuous for me to say that I believe democratic institutions established through the Good Friday Agreement remain critical to the future of Northern Ireland.
“It’s a decision for you to make, not me.”
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Biden and Sunak hold talks in Belfast
Sir Jeffrey said his party “want to see the political institutions back up and running”, but any post-Brexit deal needed to ensure Northern Ireland “continues to have access to the whole of the United Kingdom and its internal market and that the arrangements to facilitate trade with the EU don’t get in the way with our ability to trade with our own country”.
Speaking to Sky News after the speech, he added: “I think there is further work that needs to be done [on the framework] and we will engage with the government to see what further can be delivered in terms of respecting and protecting Northern Ireland’s ability to trade within the United Kingdom and its internal market.
“I want to see a solution that works for everyone in Northern Ireland.”
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
He also revealed Mr Biden “didn’t seek to apply any pressure” on him about a return to Stormont during their one-on-one meeting, saying the president “recognises it is the political leadership here that needs to take the decisions to move forward”.
However, the leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, said Mr Biden had sent “a clear message to the DUP”.
She added: “I think the message here from this visit is going to be one about peace, prosperity and about stability, and that means we need the political leg of things to work as well. I’m committed to making it work.”
The sentiment was echoed by the deputy leader of the Alliance Party, Stephen Farry, who told Sky News: “There was a very clear message today. The US has been very heavily invested in our peace process, it is clear they want to remain very closely invested, but we also have to help ourselves in Northern Ireland.
“There was a very clear steer the Assembly and the Executive [in Stormont] need to be restored and restored quickly so we can ensure we can do the basics to attract investment. It is out there for us but unless we get our act together it is not going to happen.”
Also speaking to Sky News, leader of the SDLP Colum Eastwood said Mr Biden was “very clear” in his meetings with party leaders that there were “big opportunities” for American investment in the region and that the US wanted to support the peace process.
“But we need political stability,” he added. “We need an assembly. We need the DUP to go back into government. It is pretty obvious and there for the taking. I don’t know how anyone could look this gift horse in the mouth.
“The DUP need to get on with it. The deal between [the UK] and Europe is done and it is actually a good deal. It allows us to trade in both markets. The Americans want to help us. Let’s get on with it.”
Earlier on Wednesday, other members of the DUP launched scathing attacks on the president ahead of his speech in Northern Ireland.
One of the party’s MPs Sammy Wilson claimed Mr Biden had “a record of being pro-Republican, anti-Unionist, anti-British”.
And former first minister of Northern Ireland, Baroness Foster, said the president “hates the UK”.
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Joe Biden on Stormont stalemate
Senior director for Europe at the US National Security Council, Amanda Sloat, called the claims “simply untrue”, adding: “The fact that the president is going to be engaging for the third time in three months, and then again next month and then again in June with the prime minister of the UK, shows how close our co-operation is with the UK.
“President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish-American, he is proud of those Irish roots, but he is also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK, and not only on a bilateral basis within NATO, the G7, on the UN Security Council, and we truly are working in lockstep with the British government on all of the pressing global challenges that our countries are facing.”
Some have suggested the US president’s time in the region would have been longer had Stormont been sitting – but instead he will cross the border to Ireland this afternoon for a number of engagements, including meeting the Irish president and prime minister in Dublin and a tour of Carlingford Castle in Co Louth, where he traces his roots to.
Downing Street played down claims yesterday that the engagement between Mr Biden and Mr Sunak was “low-key” and scaled back, even though the PM did not stay to watch the president’s speech – with the UK government instead being represented by Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.
Mr Heaton-Harris rejected claims Mr Sunak had “snubbed” the president, instead saying the PM had “other private engagements that he has gone to” and it was “a perfectly legitimate thing to do”.
A woman accused of stalking the parents of Madeleine McCann allegedly left voicemails asking the mother of the missing girl for a DNA test, a court heard.
Jurors heard voicemails left by Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, Poland, in which she was audibly upset.
She allegedly left the messages last year, over a period of months, and at one point asked: “What if I’m her?”
Co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, began crying today at Leicester Crown Court and had to leave the dock when the voicemails were played.
Wandelt, whose head was down while jurors were listening, was heard saying: “I know you probably think Madeleine‘s dead. Well she is not. I really believe I’m her.
“Help me. Don’t think Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I beg you. The police don’t want to help me, they don’t want to help Madeleine. It’s all corrupt.
“I promise you that I will prove who I am because I know you love Madeleine.”
In another message, she said: “You probably believe Madeleine is not alive anymore.
Madeleine McCann went missing during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007. Pic: PA
“What if I am her? What if there’s a small chance that I’m her?”
Jurors also heard that, one night, Wandelt sent a message to Mrs McCann at 1am, saying: “I don’t understand why you don’t want to do a DNA test.”
Prosecutors allege that Wandelt, a Polish national, falsely claimed she was Madeleine while stalking parents Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, making calls and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year.
The court previously heard that Wandelt called and messaged Mrs McCann more than 60 times in a single day in April last year. This included alleged memories of Madeleine’s abduction.
Madeleine went missing during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in Portugal, in May 2007.
Wandelt and Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking.
The trial continues.
UK
Tommy Robinson refused to give phone pin to police as he drove his Bentley to Benidorm, court hears
Tommy Robinson refused to hand over his phone pin when police stopped his Bentley on the way to Benidorm, a court has heard.
He allegedly told officers “Not a chance, bruv” and said he was a journalist when they pulled him aside at the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone in July 2024.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is accused of “frustrating” counter-terrorism powers by refusing to give access to the phone.
He denies the charge.
The right-wing political activist was flanked by security guards as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates Court for the opening of the trial on Monday.
The 42-year-old faces three months in prison and/or a £2,500 fine if found guilty.
Robinson had £13,000 and 1,900 euros on him when he was stopped and told police he was going to Benidorm in Spain for a few days, said prosecutor Jo Morris.
He allegedly refused to give the pin as he claimed the phone had sensitive “journalist material” on it.
He’s said to have told police: “It’s my work, I’m a journalist,” claiming it contained information about “vulnerable girls”.
The court heard Robinson was stopped in his silver Bentley SUV because he gave “short, vague replies” about what he was doing and “made no eye contact”.
PC Mitchell Thorogood told the court it was also “unusual” he bought tickets on the day rather than in advance and was in an expensive car not registered in his name.
Pic: PA
When police took Robinson into an interview room and demanded his phone, he allegedly told them: “Not a chance bruv… you look like a c*** so you ain’t having it.”
Officers said they recognised Robinson when they stopped him and his lawyer, Alisdair Williamson KC, suggested the stop may have been “discriminatory” against his political beliefs.
Police can stop anyone at a UK port and hold them for six hours if they suspect they may be involved in planning or committing acts of terrorism.
They are legally obliged to answer questions and must give access to their electronic devices or face a criminal charge.
In a video on X before the hearing, Robinson said Elon Musk had “picked up the legal bill” for “this absolute state persecution”.
The case comes a month after Robinson led a huge rally in central London under the banner ‘Unite the Kingdom’.
The trial continues.
Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, has claimed the UK played a “vital role” in helping negotiate the Gaza peace deal, smoothing over a potential diplomatic row between London and Washington.
Witkoff took to X on Monday, ahead of meeting President Donald Trump in Israel, to praise the UK.
“I would like to acknowledge the vital role of the United Kingdom in assisting and coordinating efforts that have led us to this historic day in Israel,” Witkoff wrote.
“In particular, I want to recognise the incredible input and tireless efforts of National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell.”
His comments came 24 hours after education secretary Bridget Phillipson was branded “delusional” by Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, for claiming that Sir Keir Starmer’s presence at a signing ceremony for today’s ceasefire deal in Egypt “demonstrates the key role that we [Britain] have played”.
The minister made her remarks on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips but did not say exactly what the UK’s role in the ceasefire, largely attributed to Donald Trump, is or was.
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Phillipson added: “We have played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this.
“It’s right that we do so because it’s in all of our interest, including our own national interest, that we move to a lasting peace in the region.
“These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in. But we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in moving us to this point.”
Her comments prompted Mr Huckabee to repost the Sky News clip on social media, claiming: “I assure you she’s delusional.”
He added: “She can thank Donald Trump anytime just to set the record straight.”
Mr Huckabee was part of the negotiating team for the peace deal, with Mr Trump calling the former Arkansas governor “AMAZING” as he said he “worked so hard, and did so much, to bring about peace in the Middle East”.
In August, Mr Huckabee said the UK and other European nations that said they would declare a Palestinian state were “having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want”.
Israel: UK did not play key role in peace deal
Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister, Sharren Haskell backed Huckabee, telling Sky News the UK played “the opposite” of a key role in the peace deal after recognising the Palestinian state.
“The message that the UK government has sent Hamas was the message that: the longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.
“I mean, you must understand that when a terrorist organisation is thanking you. You are on the wrong side of history.”
It is understood the prime minister has underlined Mr Trump’s key role in securing this deal throughout the process. Publicly, he praised Mr Trump twice in his press conference in India on Thursday.
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Final preparations for hostages in Israeli hospital
Ms Phillipson stood by the September decision to declare a Palestinian state, saying it was “the right thing to do”.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Sky News it was a “moment of leadership” for the UK to declare a Palestinian state, and a “responsibility to begin to correct a century of the gravest historic injustices committed against our people”.
He added: “That moment three weeks ago, when the UK did recognise, is a moment when we can say that the wheels of history are turning in a different direction.”
No plans for British troops on the ground
The education secretary also told Sky News the government has “no plans” to put British troops into Israel or Gaza as part of a stabilisation force after the ceasefire.
The US military will help establish a multinational force in Israel, known as a civil-military coordination centre, which is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have walked back to Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Pic: AP
On Friday, US officials said up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East will be moved to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza.
The day before, President Trump announced Israel and Hamas had “signed off on the first phase” of a peace plan he unveiled last week.
Pic: Reuters
Aid trucks have been gathering in Egypt to cross into Gaza after months of warnings by aid groups of famine in parts of the territory.
In Israel, the remaining hostages are due to be returned from Gaza by Hamas on Monday under the first phase of the peace plan. Twenty are believed to still be alive, 26 have been declared dead, while the fate of two is unknown.
The ceasefire agreement has been made two years after Hamas stormed Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN deems reliable.
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