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Barack Obama: Brexit would put UK back of the queue for trade talks Barack Obama: Brexit would put UK back of the queue for trade talks
(about 1 hour later)
The US would not do a trade deal with the UK any time soon if Britain voted to leave the EU, Barack Obama has said. The UK would be at the back of the queue for a trade deal with the US if Britain voted to leave the EU, Barack Obama has said.
The US president said Britain would be “at the back of the queue” when it came to negotiating a new trade agreement because it was better to strike a transatlantic deal with Europe as a whole. The US president said a trade agreement would not happen any time soon in the event of Britain leaving because it was better to strike a transatlantic deal with Europe as a whole.
Appearing with David Cameron at the Foreign Office, Obama said he was delivering the warning that the UK is better off in the EU because “part of being friends is being honest”. The highly significant intervention is a boost for David Cameron and the campaign for Britain to stay in the EU at a time when polls suggest the race is close ahead of June referendum.
Campaigners for Britain to leave the EU have reacted furiously to Obama’s intervention, with the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, suggesting the US president’s part-Kenyan ancestry might have left him with a grudge against the UK. In a joint press conference with Cameron at the Foreign Office, Obama said he was delivering the warning that the UK is better off in the EU because “part of being friends is being honest”.
Asked whether it was right for him to speak out, Obama stressed the EU referendum was a decision for the British people but added: “I’m not coming here to fix any votes. I am offering my opinion and in democracies everyone should want more information, not less, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hear any arguments being made. That is not a threat.”
He went on to cast doubt on the claims of leave campaigners that the UK would easily be able to strike a separate trade deal with the US.
“I think it’s fair to say maybe some point down the line but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is on negotiating with the EU,” he said. “The UK is going to be at the back of the queue.”“I think it’s fair to say maybe some point down the line but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is on negotiating with the EU,” he said. “The UK is going to be at the back of the queue.”
Related: London mayor under fire for remark about 'part-Kenyan' Barack Obama
He said it would not be a priority “not because we don’t have a special relationship” but because it was more efficient to have one agreement with a lot of countries as a bloc rather than piecemeal arrangements with each one.He said it would not be a priority “not because we don’t have a special relationship” but because it was more efficient to have one agreement with a lot of countries as a bloc rather than piecemeal arrangements with each one.
Addressing the issue of whether the US would put up with a similar loss of sovereignty as Britain has undergone in the EU, he said his country in its own way constrained itself under norms and rules that made everyone more prosperous. Campaigners for Britain to leave the EU have reacted furiously to Obama’s intervention, with the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, suggesting the US president’s part-Kenyan ancestry might have left him with a grudge against the UK.
He added: “I would tell you this. If right now I’ve got access to a massive market where I sell 44% of my exports and now I’m thinking of leaving the organisation that gives me access to that market and is responsible for millions of jobs and an enormous amount of commerce, that is not something I would probably do.” Asked whether it was right for him to speak out, Obama stressed the EU referendum was a decision for the British people, but added: “I’m not coming here to fix any votes. I am offering my opinion and in democracies everyone should want more information, not less, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hear any arguments being made. That is not a threat.”
Cameron said the “strong and essential partnership between our nations has never been more important” and echoed Obama’s argument that the UK’s influence in the world is amplified by EU membership. He also dealt with Johnson’s claim that one of his first acts was to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office because of a hostility to the British Empire linked to his heritage.
The prime minister said he had “never felt constrained in anyway in strengthening our relationship by our membership of the EU – in fact the reverse”. Obama ignored previous White House claims that the item was only removed because it was on loan and revealed he had wanted to make room for a bust of Martin Luther King as he felt that was appropriate, reminding him of the people who had worked hard to get him there.
The president said he has kept a bust of Churchill in his private residence.
“On the second floor, right outside the door, every day including on weekends, when I am going in to watch a basketball game, the primary image I see is a bust of Winston Churchill. It’s there voluntarily ... I love Winston Churchill, love the guy.”
The president also addressed the claims his warning is hypocritical because the US would never put up with a similar loss of sovereignty as Britain has undergone in the EU. Obama said his country in its own way constrained itself under norms and rules that made everyone more prosperous.
He added: “If right now I’ve got access to a massive market where I sell 44% of my exports and now I’m thinking of leaving the organisation that gives me access to that market and is responsible for millions of jobs and an enormous amount of commerce, that is not something I would probably do.”
Related: The Guardian view on a key week in the EU debate: Obama sends the right message | Editorial
He said the cultural and emotional affinities between the UK and US would continue in the event of Brexit. “That is there, that is solid, that will continue.”
But he repeatedly made the argument that the UK would be less prosperous and lose influence in the world.
Cameron said the “strong and essential partnership between our nations has never been more important”, and echoed Obama’s argument that the UK’s influence in the world is amplified by EU membership.
The prime minister said he had “never felt constrained in any way in strengthening our relationship by our membership of the EU – in fact the reverse”.
Some leave campaigners dismissed Obama’s comments. Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said Obama “won’t be in office by the time we’re out of the EU post-referendum” and claimed a trade deal was in both countries’ interests.
The official Vote Leave campaign argues that the US president is “asking the British people to accept a situation that he patently would not recommend to the American people”.