Joe Biden's UK trip is an escape from headaches at home

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Joe Biden had a visible skip in his 78-year-old step as he set off from the United States for Britain.

At Joint Base Andrews he literally started running towards Air Force One. It looked like he couldn't wait to get away.

For the US president the Cornish seaside air will be a welcome relief from the bickering that has engulfed his domestic agenda in Washington.

Mr Biden got off to a fast start with his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, the vaccination programme, and a resurgent economy.

But now his grand plans are starting to stagnate as promises of a new bipartisan politics fail to materialise. He is not only mired in battles with Republicans, but also prominent figures in his own party.

One suspects Mr Biden will be far happier to see Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel et al than some senators on Capitol Hill.

It might be pushing it to suggest he'll be more pleased to see Vladimir Putin than certain members of Congress, but perhaps not much.

Just before he left the US talks between the White House and a group of moderate Republicans, over Mr Biden's proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill, collapsed.

Mr Biden had spent weeks negotiating a compromise with a group led by Republican senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Joe Manchin, the most conservative Democrat senator, announced he would not vote with his party on the For The People Act, which is backed by Mr Biden.

The legislation is aimed at expanding voting rights and could have a major impact on the results of future elections.

In a Senate which is split 50-50 Mr Biden needs the vote of every Democrat senator, and then Vice President Kamala Harris has a casting ballot. Mr Manchin's vote is not coming easily on several major issues.

In recent days Republicans successfully blocked the setting up of a 9/11 style commission to investigate the Jan 6 US Capitol riot.

And sweeping police reform championed by Mr Biden, and named after George Floyd, has become bogged down.

Meanwhile, Ms Harris is facing growing criticism from Republicans for not visiting the Mexico border weeks after Mr Biden gave her the job of solving the immigration crisis.

She is also under fire from left-wing Democrats for a speech in Guatemala in which she told would-be immigrants: "Do not come."

White House officials were said to have been "perplexed" by a bizarre answer Ms Harris gave in a TV interview about why she had not been to the border.

So for Mr Biden the domestic headaches are piling up.

Turning his attention to global issues he is said to have been reading "How Democracies Die," a book by by Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt about how democratic systems break down.

There were echoes of it in his arrival speech at RAF Mildenhall where he talked about the need to "defend democracy".

Mr Biden is convinced we are at a pivotal moment in history, with autocratic leaders - namely Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin - believing that democracy is in terminal decline.

On this trip Mr Biden will rally allies to present a united front against Russia and China, and forcefully recommit the United States to multilateral initiatives like the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, alos vowing to share hundreds of millions of vaccines with the world.

But Mr Biden may ultimately find himself in a similar position to that of Barack Obama, lauded in foreign capitals while facing legislative gridlock at home.