Boris Johnson's EU counter offensive: representative sent to Washington to build alliances
A Government representative is set to be dispatched to the US to help counter the EU’s efforts to turn President Biden’s administration against the UK over its actions in Northern Ireland.
A senior official from the Northern Ireland Office will be seconded to the British embassy in Washington in the coming weeks to help build alliances with Irish Americans and the new administration.
The Telegraph has been told the official will also be tasked with providing factual briefings to US politicians, as well as rebutting EU claims made about the UK post-Brexit.
Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is understood to be pushing the plans, having stepped up engagement with senior Democrats in recent months in a bid to keep the new administration onside.
He is also understood to have held talks with Dame Karen Pierce, the British ambassador to the US, over the need for the embassy to be more “proactive” in countering negative briefings from Irish and EU officials based on Capitol Hill.
Mr Lewis has the backing of Lord Frost, the minister in charge of EU relations, who is currently locked in a major row with Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol and the UK’s decision to unilaterally extend grace periods for supermarkets and parcel couriers.
Lord Frost is said to share Mr Lewis’s desire to step up the UK’s diplomatic efforts in Washington, amid fears that Mr Biden, who has Irish ancestry, could side with the EU over the UK’s actions.
Prior to his election, Mr Biden had warned he was prepared to torpedo a UK-US trade deal if Mr Johnson acted in a way which risked undermining the Good Friday Agreement.
It came as Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president, and Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign affairs minister, were on Wednesday due to meet US congressmen in order to build support for the bloc’s claim that the UK is failing to live up to its commitments in Northern Ireland.
Brussels is threatening to launch a legal challenge against the UK over its unilateral actions, which it claims is a violation of the agreement reached last year.
However, the Government argues the measures are legal and in keeping with the spirit of the protocol.
On Wednesday night a senior Government source said there were long-held concerns that the Irish government had been “running rings” around the UK in Washington, adding: “There is definitely work to be done.”
A second source added: “We don’t have a dedicated Northern Ireland specialist in the embassy, and obviously the Irish government have very long standing links into the administration.”
