Boris Johnson ‘has been in touch’ with Joe Biden says Patel
The Labour leader had planned to send one of his frontbench MPs to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration later this month. It is now unclear whether this will be fulfilled after pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building yesterday evening. Shocking images showed rioters attempting to thwart Mr Biden being certified as the next US President.
Tensions were only furthered after his Democratic Party took control of the Senate, following the victories of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia, who defeated Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue respectively.
It was previously thought that the Democrats would not win the Senate, which would have made it hard for Mr Biden’s administration to achieve its agenda on issues such as healthcare and climate change.
The Senate also has the power to approve or reject Mr Biden’s nominees for cabinet and judicial posts.
Mr Warnock’s and Mr Ossoff’s Georgia victory means the Democrats will control the Senate, the House of Representatives and the White House for the first time since 2009.
Keir Starmer: The Labour leader had planned to send a frontbencher to Joe Biden’s inauguration (Image: GETTY)
Capitol Hill: Trump supporters descended on the Capitol building yesterday (Image: GETTY)
The two main parties will now each have 50 seats in the Senate.
Sir Keir’s Labour Party were hoping to forge closer ties to the US after four years sparse communication under Mr Trump’s office.
day Times reported that Labour was readying to step-in just at the moment “relations between the Democrats and the Conservatives stumble”.
This was after Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, was kept waiting for more than 30 minutes on a call to Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, before he “stood her up” – reportedly because he was embroiled in post-Brexit negotiations.
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Joe Biden: The President-elect yesterday condemned the protestors and Donald Trump (Image: GETTY)
Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, was thought to be Sir Keir’s frontrunner to head to the US.
She has spent the last nine months getting to know Mr Biden’s team, having held “extensive talks” with his cohort since the presidential election in November.
A party insider told day Times: “It’s obviously difficult to arrange an inauguration during a pandemic but it is more likely than not that Labour will send a member of its frontbench team to Washington for the event. Obviously that will depend on the travel restrictions.”
It is now unclear whether a Labour representative will travel across the Atlantic following last night’s chaotic scenes.
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Lisa Nandy: The shadow foreign secretary, is thought to be Sir Keir’s frontrunner to head to the US (Image: GETTY)
Labour: Starmer described the events unfolding in the US as ‘horrendous’ (Image: GETTY)
Downing Street had already confirmed there were no plans for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend Mr Biden’s inauguration.
Relations between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden faltered last year after the presidential candidate and Ms Pelosi condemned the Prime Minister over his plans to break international law by rewriting parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Speaking about her commitment to the special relationship between the UK and the US, Ms Nandy told the publication: “The Democrats are our sister party and so over the nine months since I was appointed as Shadow Foreign Secretary I have been reaching out to members of the Obama and Clinton administrations, but also members of the incoming Biden administration because developing these relationships is not only important to Labour, it’s important to Britain, especially considering how strained the relations are with the Conservative Government at the moment.
“There have been concerns raised by the Democrats about the efforts of this Prime Minister to undermine the Good Friday Agreement, as well as the way the Government failed to accept the result of the election swiftly enough.
Mike Pence: Once considered Trump’s most loyal supporter, Pence has certified Biden’s presidency (Image: Express Newspapers)
“More importantly, there is a sense from many of the Democrats that Johnson represents the kind of politics they are trying to get away from: the divisive politics of Donald Trump.”
In response to the riots, Sir Keir last night wrote on Twitter: “Horrendous scenes from the US.
“These are not ‘protestors’ – this a direct attack on democracy and legislators carrying out the will of the American people.”
Amid the disorder, Mr Biden also condemned the protestors’ actions.
Protest news: A protestor makes his way out of the Capitol with a lectern (Image: GETTY)
He branded it an “assault on the Citadel of Liberty” and called on President Trump to “step up”.
Mr Biden said: “The scenes of chaos of the Capitol do not reflect a true America; do not represent who we are.”
Mr Trump, in a video posted to social media, failed to denounce the riots.
He instead said he “loved” the protestors, and that the election was a “landslide” in his favour, but told his supporters to “go home”.
Mr Trump has since accepted Congress’ decision to certify Mr Biden as the next President, and has promised an orderly transition.
