Leave campaign seeks to limit Obama damage
After President Obama warned that Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for trade deal negotiations if it left the EU, Brexit campaigners have been doing their best to play down the significance of his intervention.
- The official campaign Vote Leave equated Britain’s continued EU membership to the US opening its border to Mexico. Since that would be unthinkable, it said, it was hypocritical of the president to back Britain voting to stay.
- Leave.EU sought to portray Obama as an outgoing president who, therefore, would have limited influence when the time came.
- Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames attacked Boris Johnson over his article on the removal of a bust of Britain’s wartime leader. He said it called into question his Tory colleague’s judgment and suggested he would not make a good leader.
You can also read my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s summary of events from earlier in the evening.
Soames’ interview with LBC can be heard here.
Winston Churchill’s grandson, the Tory MP and Remain supporter Sir Nicholas Soames, has attacked Boris Johnson over his article in the Sun, saying it was evidence he did not have the “stature” to be prime minister.
He told LBC Radio:
I like to think, possibly - I’m mad enough to think - that it was probably written by some little twerp who works for Boris. I can’t believe that Boris would really have done something so stupid, but whatever it is it bears his name and it is deeply offensive.”
Boris is running two elections here - he is trying to convince the public that it would be right to leave Europe, when he doesn’t believe that we should leave Europe - which we all know - and secondly he is trying to put all sorts of markers down for his future in the Conservative Party.
What Boris shows actually is that time and time again his judgment is awry. He shows in this article a remarkable but entirely consistent disregard for the facts, the truth and for all judgment.”
I don’t think Boris has the stature to be leader of the Conservative Party. I think he is a good egg as a man, he gets stuck on a high wire and everyone loves him. But being prime minister is being prime minister and I don’t think that Boris is a prime minister.
Asked about the article, Johnson said:
Obviously people will make of the article what they want. The crucial point is that I’m a big fan of Barack Obama - I was one of the first people to come out in favour of him ages ago.
But I think there’s a weird paradox when the President of the Unites States, a country that would never dream of sharing its sovereignty over anything, instructs or urges us politely to get more embedded in the EU, which is already making 60% of our laws.
I think the issue really is about democracy - America guards its democracy very jealously and I think we should be entitled to do so as well.
And Labour’s shadow business secretary Angela Eagle has weighed in, saying:
President Obama’s comments confirm what we have been saying for months - that Britain’s ability to negotiate trade deals would be hugely diminished after Brexit. It is simply not credible for the leave campaign to suggest we could swiftly negotiate a favourable trade deal with the United States and other countries.
On behalf of the official Brexit campaign Vote Leave, the justice minister Dominic Raab said:
The president made clear that uncontrolled immigration into the EU is a threat to national security. I agree - that is why it is safer to take back control so that we can stop terror suspects from Europe coming into the UK.
He argued that he thinks it is in America’s interests for the UK to stay in the EU but what is good for US politicians is not necessarily good for the British people. We want more international cooperation after we vote leave but the EU is not fit for purpose and cannot cope with the multiple crises we face, like terrorism, Syria and mass migration.
The US would not dream of opening its border with Mexico, so it is hypocritical for President Obama to insist that we do the same with Europe.
Nigel Farage is taking a similar line to Tice:
President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum. Trade deal of course in both countries interests.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) April 22, 2016
And he’s gone a little further:
Last time we followed foreign policy advice from a US President was when we went to war in Iraq. We should be wary.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) April 22, 2016
Reaction to President Obama’s intervention in the Brexit debate is beginning to come in. The co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign Richard Tice has said:
We don’t have a trade deal with the United States now because we’re members of the European Union.
The proposed EU-US trade deal, TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), would be disastrous for British workers.
Obama doesn’t have the authority to deny us a deal, as he will be long gone before any such proposals are on the table.
Updated
Obama/Cameron press conference - Snap summary
This may well turn out to be a defining moment in the EU referendum campaign. Brexit campaigners insist that the UK would be able to strike trade deals with countries like the US quickly and easily if it were to leave the EU. Britain’s prosperity would depend on such deals. But President Obama, calmly but brutally, smashed that notion and left it in dust on the floor.
Here are the key points.
- President Obama said the UK would go to “the back of the queue” in terms of trade deals with the US if it left the EU. He said:
In democracies everybody should want more information, not less, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hear an argument being made - that’s not a threat, that should enhance the debate.
Particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the UK does leave the EU - they say for example that ‘we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States’.
So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do, I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do.
And on that matter, for example, I think it’s fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement, but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done.
The UK is going to be in the back of the queue.
- He said leaving the EU would not be in Britain’s economic interests.
If, right now, I have got access to a massive market where I sell 44% of my exports and now I’m thinking about leaving the organisation that gives me access to that market and that is responsible for millions of jobs in my country and responsible for an enormous amount of commerce and upon which a lot of businesses depend - that’s not something I would probably do.”
- He rejected the claim that he was being hypocritical because America does not cede power to international bodies. Asked about this he said:
All of us cherish our sovereignty - our country is pretty vocal about that - but the US also recognises that we strengthen our security through our membership of Nato, we strengthen our prosperity through organisations like the G7 and the G20. I believe the UK strengthens both our collective security and prosperity through the EU.
- He said America’s special relationship with the UK “will continue - hopefully eternally” even if the UK leaves the EU. To explain the special relationship, he told a touching story about how moved one of his staff members was to meet the Queen.
- He said that he loved Winston Churchill, but he appeared to admit that he had been involved in the decision to remove a Churchill bust from the Oval Office when he became president. It was more important to have a bust of Martin Luther King there, he said.
That’s all from me.
My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now.
Updated
Q: [To Cameron] What are your views on the new discriminatory laws in North Carolina and Mississipi?
Cameron says he went to North Carolina many years ago and liked it. He has not been to Mississipi. He says the Foreign Office issues travel advice. Britain is trying to end discrimination around the world, and it is prepared to make that point to friends, he says.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
I will post a summary soon.
Obama says he liked Prince because he put out great music and was a great performer. He did not know him well, but Prince came to the White House last year. At the ambassador’s residence there is a turntable. He says they played Purple Rain this morning.
Obama says President Putin is the “pre-eminent backer of a murderous regime” in Syria.
But he says they cannot end the conflict in Syria without Russian help.
He says he has looked at all options in Syria. None of them are great. But he is going to try to make the ceasefire work.
Obama says special relationship 'will continue - hopefully eternally' even if UK leaves EU
Q: [To Obama] Would your special relationship be damaged if Britain votes to leave?
Obama says he will start with Winston Churchill. In the private White House residence, outside his office, there is a bust of Churchill. He sees it every day. He can do anything on the second floor. He loves Churchill.
He says there is not a lot of space in the Oval Office. As the first African-American president, he thought it right to have a bust of Martin Luther King in his office. He thought it important to have that there, to remind him of the people who helped get him there.
He says he has a staff member who, on foreign trips, does not normally leave the hotel.
But she had one request: she wanted to come to Windsor on the off chance she might see the Queen.
And, graciously, the Queen agreed to meet her in a line-up today.
This staff person met the Queen. She almost fainted.
That’s the special relationship.
He says nothing is going to impact on that. That is solid, he says. That will continue - hopefully eternally.
- Obama says the special relationship is “solid” and “will continue - hopefully eternally” even if the UK votes to leave the EU.
But that won’t stop him telling Britain when it might be doing something against its best interests, he says.
Q: Was it right for Boris Johnson to bring up Obama’s ancestry.
Cameron says questions for Boris are questions for Boris.
Q: Was it right to drag Obama into this EU referendum?
Cameron says it is good to listen to your friends.
He says Britain played a really important role in putting in place sanctions against Russia. If Britain had not been there, he is not sure that that would have happened.
(It sounds like he has been reading Anne Applebaum - see 10.38am.)
He says he wants a stronger Britain and a stronger special relationship. And that will happen if Britain stays in the EU.
Q: [To Cameron] Since Obama has offered advice to Britons on the EU, will you offer advice to Americans on Donald Trump?
Cameron says this is not a general election. He says he has not found any country around the world that wants Britain to leave the EU.
Listening to countries that wish us well is a good thing to do.
As for the American elections, he has made some comments in recent months. He does not think now is the time to add to them or subtract from them.
But, looking at the American election process, he is in awe of anyone still standing at the end.
The Ukip leader Nigel Farage has responded to Obama.
President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum. Trade deal of course in both countries interests.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) April 22, 2016
And Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative deputy chairman, has responded too.
Updated
Q: Do you think the EU is at breaking point?
Obama says there are strains in the EU. At a time of globalisation, when many of the challenges we face are transnational, there is a temptation to want to pull up the drawbridge, he says.
He says that view exists in the US, and the debate is accelerated in Europe.
But he says the ties that bind Europe together are stronger than those tearing it apart.
He says Europe has undergone a great period of prosperity - possibly unmatched at any time in the world.
If you look at Europe in the 20th century and in the 21st century, the 21st century looks a lot better. People can see that, he says.
He says if he were in the UK, he would be thinking about what was best for jobs etc here.
But he would also think about whether this was going to allow prosperity to continue.
That is partly what it is relevant to the US.
Those last five minutes may turn out to be the most important five minutes of the entire EU referendum campaign. Here is some snap reaction.
From the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland
This by Obama is devastating for Leave. He's using his platform to rip the Out case apart
— Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) April 22, 2016
From the Sunday Times’s Tim Shipman
We expected a hand grenade or two from Obama. He has instead detonated a battlefield nuclear device
— Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) April 22, 2016
From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire
Obama has detonated. That sound your hear is panicking Brexiteers running for shelter and returning fire with pea shooters
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) April 22, 2016
Obama says immigration can enhance a country when done properly.
And, when he is discussing this with the EU, he wants David Cameron in the conversation, he says.
Obama says having a trade deal just with the US would be “hugely inefficient”.
Obama says UK will go to "the back of the queue' for trade deals with US if it leave EU
They are now taking questions.
Q: [To Obama] You know your comments are controversially. Leave campaigners say you are hypocritical because Americans would never accept the level of immigration from Mexico we accept from the EU. How do you react? And what happens if the UK votes to leave?
Obama says this is a matter for Britons. He is not here to vote. He is offering his opinion. In a democracy you should want as much information as possible. Giving a view is not a threat.
He says the Leave side are saying what they think the US will do. He figures people might like to hear from the president of the US what it will do.
- Obama says the UK would go to the ‘back of the queue” if it leaves the EU when it comes to trade deals with the US. He says a US/EU trade deal is “not going to happen any time soon”. The US would focus on trade deals with the EU and big trade blocs, he suggests.
Obama says after WW2 the US allowed itself to be constrained by joining international bodies.
But it did so because it realised that it would be stronger that one
There was a British poet who said “no man is an island”, he says. And that is true, even for an island as beautiful as this.
Obama says Americans 'want Britain's influence to grow' by staying in EU
Obama says they discussed the EU referendum.
Ultimately this is for British voters, he says.
But, as part of the special relationship, part of being friends is to say what you think. And it is a matter of “deep interests” to the US because it affects US interests. The UK is at its best when it is in the EU. As he wrote in his op-ed, the EU helps the UK magnify its power. And that is good for America.
Americans want Britain’s influence to grow, including within Europe.
Obama says all of us cherish our sovereignty.
But the US also recognises it strengthens its security through bodies like Nato.
In the 21st century, the nations with power won’t be those that go it alone. They will be the ones that act together.
Obama says he wants all Nato allies to spend 2% of GDP on defence. “David” has made that happen in the UK, he says.
Obama says the special relationship with the UK is very important to him.
He says Cameron has become a good friend to him.
The depth and breadth of the special relationship have helped them tackle problems like Ebola, the Iran nuclear problem and climate change.
He says they discussed challenges to shared security. They are determined to role back and defeat Isil (Isis).
They have to improve security and information sharing across Europe, he says.
Obama says Queen is a 'jewel to the world' and one of his favourite people
President Obama is speaking now.
He says he has never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before. It was a very smooth ride.
He says the Queen is one of his favourite people. She is an “astonishing person” and a “jewel to the world”.
He says if he reaches 90, he hopes to be as lively as she is.
Cameron says EU membership is a 'powerful tool' for prosperity and security
Cameron says he and Obama are friends. “Barack” is someone who gives sage advice, and has a very good heart, and is a friend of the United Kingdom.
He says Britain’s reach is amplified by its membership of the EU.
He says there is no one more keen on the special relationship. But being in the EU does not constrain that. He says being in international groups helps the government deliver for people. Membership of the EU is a “powerful tool” allowing the government to deliver prosperity and security, he says.
Updated
Cameron says there are many more challenges.
The situation in Libya is “immensely challenging”, but there is now a government of national accord with which they can work.
He says they are continuing the fight against Daesh (Isis) in Iraq and Syria.
And he says they discussed the migration crisis. This does not directly affect the US, but they discussed how Nato could contribute to the fight against people smugglers in central Mediterranean.
They will discuss this further at a summit in Hanover on Monday.
Cameron says John Kerry, the US secretary of state, will attend the London corruption summit. He discussed this with Obama. They would like to see an international anti-corruption coordination centre.
Cameron turns to global security, and lists some joint US/UK achievements.
Cameron says the US-UK relationship "has never been so important" pic.twitter.com/VkgyMXHWs8
— Emily Ashton (@elashton) April 22, 2016
David Cameron and President Obama have arrived.
It is Obama’s fifth visit to the UK, Cameron says.
He says he and Obama have worked together during difficult times.
The “strong and essential partnership” between our countries has never been more important, he says.
He says when Churchill first talked about the special relationship 70 years ago, he was talking about a way of working together.
They are both committed to economic security, and to completing the EU/US trade deal.
Cameron and Obama's press conference
The press conference is about to start.
This is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.
PM and Obama presser in room where Locarno treaty signed after World War One to promote reconciliation in Europe.
— Anushka Asthana (@GuardianAnushka) April 22, 2016
Boris Johnson has offered some sort of clarification of his Sun article. This is from the Times’s Michael Savage.
Boris Johnson has said he did not intend to imply Mr Obama was anti-British...
— Michael Savage (@michaelsavage) April 22, 2016
David Cameron and President Obama are now leaving Number 10 for the Foreign Office.
Here is a picture from the start of the Cameron/Obama meeting earlier.
This is from the Daily Mirror’s Jack Blanchard.
Obama / Cameron press conference moments away at the Foreign Office. Big moment for the EU Referendum campaign pic.twitter.com/JkHdgeb8kh
— Jack Blanchard (@Jack_Blanchard_) April 22, 2016
And, while we’re on polling, Andrew Hawkins from ComRes says his firm’s polling shows Britons will be more influenced by Angela Merkel and the Queen on the EU referendum than President Obama.
To put @BarackObama comments into perspective, fewer Brits say he influences opinion than Merkel does
— Andrew Hawkins (@Andrew_ComRes) April 22, 2016
ComRes for @itvnews % 'important' in influencing voters on #euref - Hollande 28%, Obama 30%, Merkel 34%, The Queen 49%
— Andrew Hawkins (@Andrew_ComRes) April 22, 2016
Merkel wants Britain to stay in the EU. The Sun claimed recently that the Queen was backing Brexit, but it could not properly substantiate the story (it reported her making Eurosceptic remarks well before the referendum was announced) and she certainly won’t be making any announcements.
The Cameron/Obama press conference is due to start in 10 minutes.
It will be taking place in the Foreign Office. Some ministers have already left Number 10 for the Foreign Office, but Cameron and Obama are still in Downing Street.
Ipsos MORI have also been polling on whether or not people think President Obama should express a view on Britain leaving the EU. They found the public roughly split.
New Ipsos MORI polling shows the British public are split on US President Barack Obama expressing his view on whether or not Britain should stay in the European Union. Half (49%) think that President Obama should express his view while 46% say that he should not.
Unsurprisingly, Remain supporters are more in favour of Obama expressing his views than Leave supporters.
Ipsos MORI also found that only 15% of people said Obama’s views would be important to them when they voted. This is roughly in line with what the Sky Data poll found. (See 1.12pm.) Ipsos MORI said:
Nevertheless the majority of the British public say that President Obama’s view will not be important to them in deciding how they will vote. Fifteen percent say his view will be important to them while 83% say that his view will not be very or at all important. Mr Obama’s views are more important to remain supporters than leave supporters (at 20% vs 7%), to the young rather than older people (24% of 18-34s vs 10% of 55+), and to those who may change their mind than those definitely decided (21% vs 12%).
The Ipsos MORI figures are in its April political monitor. The headline voting figures show the Conservatives on 38% and Labour on 35%.
And this is what it is like turning around the American president’s limo in Downing Street. This is from the BBC’s Callum May.
Great three-point turns I have witnessed. pic.twitter.com/0eb28DGRDv
— Callum May (@callummay) April 22, 2016
You can never go wrong with a cat photo ...
Larry the cat wondering what all the fuss is about pic.twitter.com/Wvr7ryL2wA
— Vicki Young (@BBCVickiYoung) April 22, 2016
Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative deputy chairman who now specialises in political polling, has started publishing focus group reports on what people make of the EU referendum. Today he has published a write-up of focus groups in Bury, Rossendale and Norwich.
Ashcroft has not come to an overall conclusion as to who is winning the campaign, but there are plenty of revealing insights into what people are thinking. Here’s an excerpt.
For the Remain camp, the week’s main event was the launch of the Treasury document claiming that households would be £4,300 a year worse off by 2030 if Britain left the European Union. This brought the usual complaints about any number in politics: “Where have they got this random figure?”, “You can make statistics tell you anything”, “I just listen to that and think, give us some explanation, why will that happen?”, “He can’t even forecast for two years correctly, never mind 15 years!”
But, tellingly, the £4,300 figure was mentioned spontaneously in every group, and even though people were not sure they believed it, it worried them. Why does it stick in your mind if it might be nonsense? “Well, it’s a lot of money for any household, isn’t it?” ...
The other number in common currency on the Brexit side was that Britain sends the EU £350 million a week – a figure that has been in the public consciousness for some time (though not universally: “it’s the amount it costs that worries me. Is it something like £10 billion a day? Or is it £10 million? Or £7 million. Anyway, I was shocked when I heard”). Not everyone accepted the £350 million figure at face value, wondering if it was gross or net, and few thought it was a clinching argument in itself, since (being undecided) they also thought EU membership brought some benefits.
But there were no takers for the idea that if Britain left, this money would be spent on public services instead: “John Redwood said they could spend the extra £350 million a week on the NHS. If anyone thinks they would really spend it on the NHS they need their head examined. It would go on tax cuts for businesses and getting rid of the deficit, not schools and hospitals.”
Ladbrokes claims it has seen 'biggest betting shift of campaign so far'
According to Ladbrokes 90% of the EU referendum bets placed in the last 48 hours have been for Remain. Ladbrokes assess that the chances of a Leave vote have fallen from 34% to 29%. Matthew Shaddick of Ladbrokes said:
This is the biggest betting shift of the campaign so far. Treasury reports, Boris Johnson and David Cameron have hardly shifted the dial, but the moment President Obama’s feet touched the ground in the UK, the chances of a Brexit vote took a big hit.
Here is the latest update from Number 10 from the White House pool reporter (the reporter allowed into the room to witness an event and file on behalf of everyone - nothing to do with swimming.)
After a motorcade that took us past a fair number of tourists snapping pictures, POTUS [President of the United States] arrived at 10 Downing Street.m at 3 pm local. We passed a few signs that said “Obama close gitmo” on the way.
POTUS and prime minister David Cameron enters a sitting room a few moments later and took seats on creme colored chairs for a photo op. They were chatting for a second or two but your pooler couldn’t hear much. It sounded like they were talking about sports, and perhaps the sports their kids played. POTUS said “It keeps them out of trouble” and then the press was ushered out of the room.
This is from the Press Association, explaining what David Cameron and President Obama will be covering in their talks this afternoon.
During their talks in Number 10 the two leaders are expected to focus on boosting Operation Sophia, the EU naval mission tackling the human traffickers behind the migrant crisis.
Other items on the agenda include the situation in Afghanistan, stepping up co-operation on data-sharing to tackle terrorism and the response to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
They will also discuss the rollover of economic sanctions against Russian figures.
Cameron and Obama are start with a bilateral meeting, accompanied just by a few aides.
Then they are due to be joined by George Osborne, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, Theresa May, the home secretary, and Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, for further talks before their press conference.
Updated
Here are some more pictures from President Obama’s arrival at Number 10.
19 vehicles in Obama's convoy through Parliament Square to Downing Street.
— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) April 22, 2016
Downing St parking warden struggling to know what to do with Obama's big car. This will be an interesting U turn pic.twitter.com/VmbJ9aOgT7
— Harry Smith (@stvharry) April 22, 2016
And here are David Cameron and Barack Obama outside Number 10.
President Obama has just arrived at Number 10.
The largest trade unions in the UK and US have written a joint letter to Barack Obama, warning that the argument for Britain leaving the EU risks being tipped towards a ‘Brexit’ if he does not act to remove the NHS from the scope of a controversial transatlantic trade deal.
Writing to the president at the outset of his visit to the UK, where he has already intervened to warn British voters against leaving the EU, the leaders of Unite and the United Steel Workers union, drew a link between the referendum battle and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
“If this is not addressed many progressive UK voters will be put off remaining in the EU,” they said, in a letter which drew on Obama’s own personal admiration for the NHS, which he once described as a “healthcare system that ensures you don’t go bankrupt when you get sick.”
While Unite and the bulk of Britain’s trade union organisations have thrown their weight behind the campaign for Britain to remain in the EU, the TTIP deal presents a potential flashpoint for many left-leaning voters and others.
Obama's birthday present for the Queen
And Mark Knoller has also tweeted about President Obama’s birthday present to the Queen - a photo album with pictures of her visits with American presidents and first ladies.
Pool reporter @mikememoli spotted gift from the Obamas to the Queen. From Mike's pool report: pic.twitter.com/drlIuwI5ZX
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 22, 2016
As a birthday gift, WH says the Obamas presented the Queen with a custom photo album of her visits with US Presidents and First Ladies.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 22, 2016
During her reign, Queen Elizabeth has met 11 of the 12 US Presidents. LBJ was the odd man out.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 22, 2016
President Obama has finished his lunch with the Queen. He is now returning to London for his meeting with David Cameron. This is from CBS’s White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
Lunch with the Queen lasted about an hour 45 mins. The Obamas headed back into London. @POTUS has meeting with PM @David_Cameron.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 22, 2016
Lunchtime summary
- Boris Johnson has been accused by Labour of “dog whistle racism” for writing an article in which the London mayor quoted claims that Barack Obama’s “part-Kenyan” heritage had driven him towards anti-British sentiment. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said Johnson was guilty of “dog whistle racism”. And the Labour MP Chuka Umunna said Johnson’s comment showed “the nasty party is back”. Umunna said:
Once again we see the ugly face of the Tory party. The nasty party is back. Zac Goldsmith has played on Sadiq Khan’s Muslim heritage to try to link him with radical extremists, and today Boris Johnson has played on Barack Obama’s Kenyan ancestry to question his motives around the EU referendum debate.
This is beyond the pale and base politics of the worst kind. We may have come to expect this from Donald Trump - but Goldsmith and Boris should know better, and Londoners deserve better.
Sir Nicholas Soames, the Conservative MP, has also criticised Johnson’s article as “appalling”. (See 11.33am.)
- Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has accused Obama of having a “grudge” against Britain. Johnson floated this suggestion in his controversial Sun column, but did not fully endorse it. But Farage did. He said:
His first day in the White House, he had the bust of Winston Churchill removed from the Oval Office. Because of his grandfather and Kenya and colonialisation, I think Obama has a bit of a grudge against this country.
Separately, another Ukip spokesman claimed America was hoping to use the second world war to smash the UK’s influence in the world. (See 12.12pm.) Farage’s claim about the Churchill bust has been shown to be untrue. (See 12.39pm.)
- Farage has claimed that not having any major political leaders or financial institutions saying Britain should leave the EU is actually an advantage for the Brexit camp. He said:
I hope Goldman Sachs, all the big banks, all the multinationals, the International Monetary Fund, all the career politicians, all the people that have led us to bad debt, all the people that have led us to endless wars in the Middle East, all the people that have served the West so badly, I want them all to club together and I want to say to the voters: ‘Right, this is very simple, ladies and gentlemen, it’s us against the entire political establishment.’ And I think, frankly, the more that they club together, the better our chances are of winning.
Updated
Two former senior British diplomats have joined those criticising Boris Johnson over his Sun article.
This is from Sir Stephen Wall, the former British permanent representative to the European Union.
Boris Johnson’s comment implying the President of the United States is driven by his ancestral dislike of the British Empire is demeaning to the debate. Using that type of language does not reflect Britain’s standing in the world or the country we aspire to be.
As our most important ally, President Obama has the right to offer his view and he has made it clear that being in Europe magnifies British influence and enhances Britain’s global leadership.
And this is from Lord Kerr, a former ambassador to Washington.
The US has an interest in Britain, its closest ally, being stronger, safer and better off in the EU - not weaker, out on its own. To claim that the American president has no right to say what he believes, and speak up for US political, economic and business interests is typical Boris bluff and bluster.
The Press Association has filed more detail about what happened when President Obama and his wife Michelle arrived at Windsor Castle.
The Duke of Edinburgh may be approaching his 95th birthday in June but he looked composed at the wheel of the Range Rover, carrying the Queen and the Obamas, as it made its way around the castle’s quadrangle.
The vehicle stopped at the sovereign’s entrance and Obama got out first and waited for the Queen and his wife.
The president and the Queen walked in first, followed by Mrs Obama and the Duke.
Inside the four posed for a photograph in the castle’s Oak Room, in the Queen’s private apartment.
The monarch uses the room to hold audiences and in past years has recorded a Christmas broadcast there.
President Obama and David Cameron will attend a private dinner hosted by US ambassador Matthew Barzun at his official residence Winfield House in Regent’s Park on Saturday, the White House and Downing Street have announced.
Here are some more pictures from President Obama’s arrival at Windsor Castle.
Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has been in the City of London this morning campaigning for St George’s Day to be made a national holiday.
He told my colleague Ben Quinn that he took President Obama’s description of himself as a friend of the UK “with a pretty large pinch of salt.”
Look, I know his family’s background. Kenya. Colonialism. There is clearly something going on there. It’s just that you know people emerge from colonialism with different views of the Britsh. Some thought that they were really rather benign and rather good, and others saw them as foreign invaders.Obama’s family come from that second school of thought and it hasn’t quite left him yet.
In his Sun article Boris Johnson said there were suspicions that Obama was anti-British, but Johnson himself did not endorse that claim. Farage himself is making that claim.
Farage himself also told Ben that Obama got rid of the bust of Churchil from the Oval Office on the first day, even though the White House has described that claim as “100% false”.
Nigel Farage: Obama is influenced by Kenyan family's "colonial" view of Britain #brexit #euref https://t.co/NB2rX6vZqY via @audioBoom
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) April 22, 2016
John McDonnell accuses Boris Johnson of 'dog whistle racism'
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has said that Boris Johnson’s decision to describe President Obama as “part-Kenyan” amounts to “dog whistle racism”.
Mask slips again. Boris part-Kenyan Obama comment is yet another example of dog whistle racism from senior Tories. He should withdraw it.
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) April 22, 2016
Poll suggests most voters think Obama should not intervene in the EU referendum
Sky News carried out a poll yesterday in connection with President Obama’s visit.
There were three main findings.
- A majority of voters think Obama should not intervene in the EU referendum campaign, the poll suggests.
BREAK - Snap poll:
— Sky Data (@SkyData) April 22, 2016
Should Obama intervene in #EUref?
60% Should not
29% Should
10% Don't know
- A quarter of voters say Obama’s support for the EU makes them more likely to vote Remain - although most people say it will make no difference, and 17% say it will make them more likely to vote Leave.
New poll:
— Sky Data (@SkyData) April 22, 2016
Will Obama make you more or less likely to vote Remain in #EUref?
25% More
17% Less
57% No differencehttps://t.co/Yx8ww36gjZ
- 40% of under-35s say Obama’s pro-EU stance will make them more likely to vote Remain, about amongst over-55s his intervention seems counterproductive.
Will Obama make you more or less likely to vote Remain?
— Sky Data (@SkyData) April 22, 2016
Age 18-34:
40% more, 9% less, 51% no difference
55+:
15% more, 26% less, 59% no diff
Around 1,000 people were surveyed by text for the poll. They survey Sky customers, but they have 10m Sky customers to choose from and they weight their samples (by gender, age, class etc) to make them representative, and so they are confident that their findings are as reliable as those from any mainstream pollster.
More parliamentarians have criticised Boris Johnson for his decision to describe President Obama as “part-Kenyan”.
Richard Newby, the Lib Dem chief whip in the Lords, says Johnson is “despicable”.
Boris Johnson suggesting that Obama is anti-British because father was Kenyan. Despicable. Desperate. Demeaning #StrongerIn #LeaveChaos
— Richard Newby (@RichardNewby3) April 22, 2016
Mary Honeyball, the Labour MEP, says Johnson is “disgraceful”.
Disgraceful of Boris Johnson to reference Barack Obama’s
— Mary Honeyball (@maryhoneyball) April 22, 2016
Kenyan ancestry. Obama is a great friend of Britain #StrongerIn
The Labour MP Julie Cooper says Johnson should be ashamed of himself.
Boris Johnson suggesting that President Obama is anti-British because his father is Kenyan. Disgraceful should be ashamed #StrongerIn
— Julie Cooper MP (@JulieForBurnley) April 22, 2016
Sarah Ludford, a Lib Dem peer and Europe spokeswoman, says Johnson was being insulting.
#Brexiteer Boorish Johnson so desperate that descends to insulting our friend @BarackObama for his Kenyan ancestry. #StrongerIn #INtogether
— Sarah Ludford (@SarahLudford) April 22, 2016
President Obama and his wife Michelle have arrived at Windsor Castle for their lunch with the Queen.
Washington Post says Boris Johnson wrong about the White House Churchill bust
Boris Johnson made his reference to President Obama being “part-Kenyan” in his Sun article because he said that was one explanation given for a decision to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office when Obama became president. Johnson said:
Something mysterious happened when Barack Obama entered the Oval Office in 2009.
Something vanished from that room, and no one could quite explain why.
It was a bust of Winston Churchill – the great British war time leader. It was a fine goggle-eyed object, done by the brilliant sculptor Jacob Epstein, and it had sat there for almost ten years.
But on day one of the Obama administration it was returned, without ceremony, to the British embassy in Washington.
No one was sure whether the President had himself been involved in the decision.
Some said it was a snub to Britain. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire – of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender.
Johnson is generally viewed as a brilliant newspaper columnist but even his most fervent admirers accept that facts are not his strong point and on this assertion he appears to have got it wrong again.
Johnson suggests that Obama may have been responsible for the removal of the Churchill bust. The Washington Post looked into this in considerable detail last year in a fact check exercise after Senator Ted Cruz said Obama definitely was responsible for the bust’s disappearance. And the WP concluded Obama had nothing to do with it.
Here is its conclusion.
When Obama took office, the Epstein bust loaned by Blair was returned to the British government, and the U.K. ambassador installed it in his residence. According to a 2010 interview with White House curator William Allman, the decision to return the bust had been made even before Obama arrived, as the loan was only scheduled to last as long as Bush’s presidency ...
To sum up, the Churchill bust loaned to Bush was returned, but a virtually similar bust by the same artist resides in White House residence. There is no evidence that Obama personally decided to return the bust; given the economic crisis at the time, one imagines he had bigger issues on his mind. Perhaps someone on his staff should have recognized the symbolic value in retaining the bust, but the odds are the machinery of the transition just moved forward on its own.
And Vote Leave has posted a video of President Obama talking about the importance of governing by consent to back its campaign for Brexit.
We agree. That's why we're voting to leave an undemocratic political union. #TakeControl pic.twitter.com/hU5yoUi5pQ
— Vote Leave (@vote_leave) April 22, 2016
Britain Stronger in Europe is tweeting about President Obama’s intervention.
Barack Obama thinks the UK should stay in Europe. Donald Trump says we should leave. Enough said. Please RT. pic.twitter.com/furaIeLXIW
— Stronger In (@StrongerIn) April 22, 2016
On one side, Barack Obama. On the other, Marie Le Pen, leader of the French National Front. Please RT. pic.twitter.com/qV5ETSzLTj
— Stronger In (@StrongerIn) April 22, 2016
Ukip claims US wanted to use WW2 to 'smash UK's influence in world'
Ukip has joined Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and other Brexit campaigner in saying that President Obama is wrong to say that Britain should vote to remain in the EU. But Mike Hookem MEP, the party’s defence spokesman, has made the point in a particularly provocative way.
- Hookem said there was something “sick” about Obama’s decision to refer to those killed in the second world war to help make his case for Britain staying in the EU. Hookem said:
To use the sacrifice of those who gave their lives in the fight against a foreign power who had a desire to rule Europe somehow seems sick.
- He questioned the value of the support America gave Britain during the second world war. America wanted to use the conflict to smash the UK’s influence in the world, he said.
If Mr Obama wants to bring up the US involvement in the war, it might be timely to remind him that in 1939 the US State department policy was to use the upcoming war as a way of smashing the UK’s influence in the world. When, in desperation, Britain asked for help they used Lend Lease to finacially cripple the UK whilst palming off old and sub standard naval assets.
- Hookem said Obama’s intervention was “unwanted” and “unwelcome”.
Dominic Raab, the justice minister who is campaigning for Brexit, told the Today programme this morning, that he thought President Obama’s call for the UK to stay in the EU amounted to “double standards”. He said:
It is frankly wanton double standards because he is asking the British people to do something he wouldn’t dream of asking Americans. He wouldn’t dream of opening the US border to free movement from Mexico, he wouldn’t dream of allowing the American constitution to be trumped by a Latin American court with judges appointed by Venezuela, or Cuban judges.
And his government right now is considering imposing security screening and new visa requirements on France, Belgium, Germany, Greece to protect the safety of American citizens. So I think Obama’s argument against Britain being able to take the power to take the same precautions is frankly absurd and we should politely but firmly say that whatever is good for the safety of American citizens must be good for the safety of British people.
Menzies Campbell accuses Boris Johnson of 'unacceptable smear'
Boris Johnson has come under further criticism for his comment about President Obama being “part-Kenyan”.
Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary, said Johnson’s language “reflects the worst Tea Pary rhetoric”.
And Menzies Campbell, the former Lib Dem leader, said Johnson’s language was “deeply offensive”. Campbell said:
Many people will find Boris Johnson’s loaded attack on President Obama’s sincerity deeply offensive. If this is an illustration of the kind of diplomacy that we might expect from a Johnson leadership of the Tory Party then heaven help us. In truth this attack constitutes an unacceptable smear.
The Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames has described Boris Johnson’s Sun article as “appalling”.
Appalling article by @BorisJohnson in Sun totally wrong on almost everything. Inconceivable WSC wld not have welcomed Presidents views
— Nicholas Soames (@nsoamesmp) April 22, 2016
@BorisJohnson it is not compulsory to have head of WSC in President's office. Stupid irrelevant empty point to make #growupgetreal
— Nicholas Soames (@nsoamesmp) April 22, 2016
WSC is Winston Churchill, Soames’s grandfather.
Updated
President Obama’s motorcade has been driving through London. This is from Channel 4 News’s Matthew Moore.
En route to Shakespeare's birthplace for piece on power, identity and Obama . Then this happened. #euref pic.twitter.com/mdlAPTfXd2
— Matthew Moore (@mattmoorek) April 22, 2016
James Rubin, the former US senior diplomat, was on BBC Breakfast this morning defending President Obama’s right to intervene in the EU referendum debate. “We have a saying, ‘Friends don’t let friends drive drunk’,” he said.
Boris Johnson criticised for calling Obama 'part-Kenyan'
In his Sun article Boris Johnson described Barack Obama as “part-Kenyan”. (See 9.38am.)
Chuka Umunna, the Labour former shadow business secretary, has described this as “beyond the pale”.
These Tory Mayoral types are beyond the pale.Zac plays on @SadiqKhan's Muslim heritage, while Boris plays on @BarackObama's Kenyan ancestry
— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) April 22, 2016
Boris Johnson’s thoughts about America’s commitment to self-government seem to be influenced, in part, by his unsuccessful attempts to get American diplomats to pay the congestion charge. This is what he told Sky News about his reaction to President Obama’s Telegraph article.
It is a fact that America guards its sovereignty with such hysterical jealousy that American diplomats in this city still refuse to pay the congestion charge and owe Londoners more than £9m which would be spent on transport improvements. And, again, it is paradoxical, inconsistent, incoherent that we are being urged every week to sent £350m of our taxpayers’ money to Brussels.
Asked if the intervention from Obama and others meant the Brexit camp was looking “isolated”, Johnson denied that, pointing out that the former Australian prime minister John Howard backed Britain leaving the EU.
This is what Howard said recently.
The European project is fundamentally flawed. I think its best days are probably behind it and there will be increasing tensions [over migration]. Britain can’t control its borders — it is ridiculous to say it can. If I were British, which I’m not, I’d vote to leave. You have lost your sovereignty.
On Twitter Henk van Klaveren (a former Lib Dem press officer) says that, if elay55 is looking for examples of where EU membership has amplified British power (see 10.15am), Anne Applebaum has a good example in this Spectator article.
In Washington, the opposition to a British withdrawal from the European Union is deep, broad and bipartisan, shared by liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans alike.
I should qualify that: the opposition to a British withdrawal from the European Union is deep, broad and bipartisan — and shared by the shrinking number of Democrats, Republicans and diplomats who are still interested in and committed to the transatlantic alliance ...
When I was recently in Washington, an American diplomat reminded me that the sanctions which helped stop a full-blown Russian invasion of Ukraine (and maybe more) were only possible because the European Union was able to bring together all of Europe’s leaders in a negotiation that included the United States. Britain helped convince other, more ambivalent Europeans to join the sanctions, which is part of why they succeeded. If it had left the EU, Britain would not have had nearly as much influence, or perhaps any influence at all.
In the the comments elay55 asks:
I keep reading about how the UK in the EU amplifies the UK’s influence, please can someone provide 3 specific examples of this amplified power?
Luckily President Obama, being an avid leader of Politics Live, has come up with a response. He provides three examples in his article.
When we negotiated the historic deal to verifiably prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, it was collective action, working together with the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, that got the job done. And the EU’s seat at the table magnified the United Kingdom’s voice.
When the climate agreement in Paris needed a push, it was the European Union, fortified by the United Kingdom, that ultimately helped make that agreement possible.
When it comes to creating jobs, trade, and economic growth in line with our values, the UK has benefited from its membership in the EU – inside a single market that provides enormous opportunities for the British people. And the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the EU will advance our values and our interests, and establish the high-standard, pro-worker rules for trade and commerce in the 21st century economy.
Is Obama right? Would there be no Iran nuclear deal, Paris climate change agreement or TTIP if the UK were out of the EU?
In reality, the Iran deal and the climate change agreement both involved non-EU countries and would have gone ahead even if the UK were not an EU member. And an EU without the UK would still want a trade deal with the US.
But Obama isn’t actually saying that all three of these initiatives would not have happened. His point is that the EU would be a weaker voice for free trade and international activism without Britain sitting around the table.
Boris Johnson says Obama's call for UK to remain in EU is 'downright hypocritical'
Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP, outgoing London mayor and leading Brexit campaigner, has got an article in the Sun today responding to President Obama’s call for Britain to stay in the EU. He accuses Obama of being “incoherent”, “inconsistent” and “downright hypocritical”. Here are the key points.
- Johnson said Obama’s call for the UK to stay in the EU was “downright hypocritical” because America would never accept the kind of curbs on its sovereignty that the EU imposes on the UK.
It is not just that the Americans refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, or that they have refused to sign up to the International Convention on the Law of the Sea.
America is the only country in the world that has so far failed to sign up to the UN convention on the rights of the child, or the UN convention on the emancipation of women.
For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy – it is a breathtaking example of the principle of do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do.
It is incoherent. It is inconsistent, and yes it is downright hypocritical. The Americans would never contemplate anything like the EU, for themselves or for their neighbours in their own hemisphere. Why should they think it right for us?
- He said the EU was “deeply anti-democratic”.
And today it is a tragedy that the European Union – that body long ago established with the high and noble motive of making another war impossible – is itself beginning to stifle democracy, in this country and around Europe.
If you include both primary and secondary legislation, the EU now generates 60 per cent of all the laws that pass through Westminster.
We are are giving £20bn a year, or £350m a week, to Brussels – about half of which is spent by EU bureaucrats in this country, and half we never see again.
We have lost control of our borders to Brussels; we have lost control of our trade policy; and with every year that passes we see the EU take control of more and more areas of public policy.
- He rejected Obama’s claim that the UK could exercise more influence as a member of the EU.
There are those who think that Britain has more “influence” within the EU than outside, and that therefore we can be of more value to Washington.
That is nonsense. The UK has been outvoted 40 times in Brussels in the last 5 years, and the total bill for those defeats – in extra costs for UK government and business – is put at £2.4 bn a year.
How can we have “influence” in the Brussels commission, when only 3.6 per cent of Commission officials come from this country?
- He described Obama as “part-Kenyan”, saying some people thought his “ancestral dislike of the British empire” explained why he removed a bust of Churchill from the Oval Office when he became president.
- He adopted Obama’s own campaign slogan to make the case for Brexit.
I think it is time to channel the spirit of the early Obama, and believe in Britain again.
Can we take back control of our borders and our money and our system of government? Yes we can.
Updated
Here is Air Force One arriving at Stansted last night carrying President Obama.
Here is Obama being greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex as he arrives
And here is Obama arriving at Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in London.
Obama says EU membership 'magnifies' British power
Earlier this week, when eight former US treasuries secretaries wrote a joint article saying why Britain should remain in the EU, they mostly focused on arguments about why they thought it was in Britain’s economic interests for it to stay in.
President Obama’s Telegraph article is different. Mostly his argument is about why it is in America’s interests for Britain to remain in the EU.
Obama argues that Britain has been a force for stability, democracy and open markets around the world.
The United Kingdom remains a friend and ally to the United States like no other. Our special relationship was forged as we spilt blood together on the battlefield. It was fortified as we built and sustained the architecture for advancing stability and prosperity in Europe, and our democratic values around the globe. From the ashes of war, those who came before us had the foresight to create the international institutions and initiatives to sustain a prosperous peace: the United Nations and Nato; Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, and the European Union. Their efforts provided a foundation for democracy, open markets, and the rule of law, while underwriting more than seven decades of relative peace and prosperity in Europe.
And he says that Britain will exert more influence if it remains in the EU, because EU membership “magnifies” its power. This may well be in the UK’s interests, but Obama says that he is in favour because this advances America’s interests too.
Here is the key passage.
Ultimately, the question of whether or not the UK remains a part of the EU is a matter for British voters to decide for yourselves.
That said, when President Roosevelt toasted to our special relationship that night, he also remarked that we are friends who have no fear of each other. So I will say, with the candour of a friend, that the outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States. The tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe’s cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are. And the path you choose now will echo in the prospects of today’s generation of Americans as well.
As citizens of the United Kingdom take stock of their relationship with the EU, you should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices – democracy, the rule of law, open markets – across the continent and to its periphery. The European Union doesn’t moderate British influence – it magnifies it. A strong Europe is not a threat to Britain’s global leadership; it enhances Britain’s global leadership. The United States sees how your powerful voice in Europe ensures that Europe takes a strong stance in the world, and keeps the EU open, outward looking, and closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic. So the US and the world need your outsized influence to continue – including within Europe.
President Obama has arrived, and so has his message to the British people about why they should vote to remain in the EU. In the past, as for example when he spoke out against Scottish independence, his interventions in British domestic politics have been relatively mildly-stated, reflecting a sensible recognition that most countries don’t like being told what to do by foreigners. But Obama’s EU intervention, in an article in the Daily Telegraph, is unusually direct. He is full-on for Remain.
Obama will get the chance to amplify his comments at a news conference with David Cameron later today. It will mark the end of a week which started with the Treasury publishing its 200-page report on the economic costs of Brexit, and it means that Remain/Number 10 have now fired two of the most powerful missiles in their arsenal. If Obama and the fear of perpetual relative poverty can’t win the referendum for Cameron, it is hard to know what can.
Here is Obama’s Telegraph article. And here is the Guardian’s account of it.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Lunchtime: President Obama has lunch with the Queen at Windsor Castle.
3.30pm: Obama arrives at Number 10 to meet David Cameron.
4.50pm: Obama and Cameron hold a press conference.
I will mostly be covering Obama’s visit and his EU intervention today but, as usual, I will also be covering other breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime and another after the Obama/Cameron press conference.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on@AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
If you think there are any voices that I’m leaving out, particularly political figures or organisations giving alternative views of the stories I’m covering, do please flag them up below the line (include “Andrew” in the post). I can’t promise to include everything, but I do try to be open to as wide a range of perspectives as possible.
