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”.
World
‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes
At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
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Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
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Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
As investigators continue to piece together the full picture, early findings of the Air India crash are pointing towards a critical area of concern — the aircraft’s fuel control switches.
The flight, bound for London Gatwick, crashed just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board the plane and at least 19 on the ground.
According to the preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the two engine fuel control switches on the plane were moved from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position.
These switches control fuel flow to the engines and should only be used when the aircraft is on ground, first to start the engines before a flight and later to shut them down at the gate.
They are designed so they’re unlikely to be changed accidentally, pointing to possible human error on the Air India flight.
The findings include the final conversation between the pilots and show there was confusion in the cockpit as well.
When one pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel, he responded to say he did not do so.
The Air India plane before the crash. Pic: Takagi
Moments later, a Mayday call was made from the cockpit, but the plane could not regain power quickly enough and plummeted to the ground.
Captain Amit Singh, founder of Safety Matters Foundation, an organisation dedicated to aviation safety, told Sky News: “This exchange indicates that the engine shutdowns were uncommanded.
“However, the report does not identify the cause – whether it was crew error, mechanical malfunction, or electronic failure.”
Previous warning of ‘possible fuel switch issue’
“The Boeing 787 uses spring-loaded locking mechanisms on its fuel control switches to prevent accidental movement,” Mr Singh explained.
But a previous bulletin from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “warned that these switches might be installed with the locking feature disengaged,” he said.
This could “make them susceptible to unintended movement due to vibration, contact, or quadrant flex”, he added.
The plane’s tail lodged in a building. Pic: Reuters
Speaking to Sky News, aviation expert Terry Tozner said: “The take-off was normal, the aircraft rotated at the correct speed left the ground and almost immediately, the cut-off switches were selected to off, one then two.
“But nobody has said with any clarity whether or not the latch mechanisms worked okay on this particular aircraft. So we can only assume that they were in normal working order.”
In India, there has been a backlash over the findings, with some saying the report points to pilot error without much information and almost dismisses the possibility of a mechanical or electric failure.
Indian government responds
India’s civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has been quick to respond, saying: “We care for the welfare and the wellbeing of pilots so let’s not jump to any conclusions at this stage, let us wait for the final report.
“I believe we have the most wonderful workforce of pilots and crew in the whole world.”
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India plane crash survivor carries brother’s coffin
Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on Boeing 787s.
The report says the aircraft maintenance checks were on schedule and that there are no signs of fuel contamination or a bird strike.
So far, no safety recommendations have been issued to Boeing or General Electric, the engine manufacturers.
Concern over destroyed flight recorder
Mr Singh said “the survivability of the flight recorders also raises concern”.
The plane’s rear flight recorder, designed to withstand impact forces of 3,400 Gs and temperatures of 1,100C for 60 minutes, “was damaged beyond recovery”.
Read more:
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Air India’s lone survivor is nothing short of miracle
“The Ram Air Turbine (RAT), which deploys automatically when both engines fail and power drops below a threshold, was observed as deployed in CCTV footage when the aircraft was approximately 60ft above ground level,” Mr Singh said.
“This suggests that the dual engine failure likely occurred before the official timestamp of 08:08:42 UTC, implying a possible discrepancy.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the crash site. Pic: X/AP
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Mr Singh said it was also “of particular note” that the plane’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT) did not send any signal after the crash.
“Was the ELT damaged, unarmed, mis-wired, or malfunctioning?” he said.
The report has generated more questions than answers on topics including human error, power source failures and mechanical or electrical malfunction.
The final report is expected to take a year. Meanwhile, families grapple with the unimaginable loss of loved ones in one of the worst disasters in India’s aviation history.
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.
Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.
Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”
In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.
Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.
“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.
“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.
He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”
Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.
The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.
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How ‘liberation day’ unfolded
Trump’s tariff threats and delays
On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.
The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.
However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.
In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.
However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.
As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.
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