BARACK Obama was last night accused of voter blackmail by threatening to
put Britain “at the back of the queue” for a trade deal if we Brexit.
The US president issued the extraordinary warning standing alongside David
Cameron after talks in Downing Street.
Leave campaigners claim the UK will be able to swiftly crack fresh deals with
major partners such as America outside of the EU.
But in a bid to demolish the crux referendum argument, Mr Obama said he
“figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what
I think the United States is going to do”.
He added: “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.”
Obama’s Brexit overreach is typical of his arrogance, says Tim Montgomerie
— The Spectator (@spectator)
The force of Mr Obama’s full frontal attack while taking sides in the EU
referendum fight delighted No10 but stunned Brexit campaigners.
They were left furious by the president’s ‘Project Fear’ warning, and accused
Mr Cameron of putting him up to it.
Leaping on Mr Obama’s use of the British word “queue” instead of the American
phrase for it, “line”, anti-EU Tory MP Stewart Jackson claimed it had been
“written by Downing Street”.
As controversy continued to rage over Mr Obama’s intervention, he insisted he
hadn’t “come here to fix any votes” and his warning was “not a threat”.
Hitting back at Boris Johnson, who lead the Brexiters’ charges against the
president of being “incoherent, inconsistent and downright hypocritical”,
the president added: “In democracies everybody should want more information,
not less, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hear an argument being made”.
Saying he was speaking as “a good friend” of the UK, Mr Obama also said the
United States wanted us to stay in because the EU “magnifies rather than
moderates” British influence in the world.
Speaking in the Foreign Office’s grand Locarno Room, the president also
clashed bitterly with Boris over the London Mayor’s claim in an article in
The Sun yesterday that he didn’t care for Britain and returned a bust of
Winston Churchill to our embassy in Washington DC.
Countering, Mr Obama insisted he still kept a bust of the legendary wartime PM
outside his private study in the White House residence on its second floor,
where he said “I can do anything”.
He added: “I see it every day — including on weekends when I’m going into that
office to watch a basketball game.
“I love Winston Churchill, I love the guy.”
A Churchill bust had only been removed from the Oval Office because Mr Obama
wanted to replace it with one of famous civil rights campaigner Dr Martin
Luther King, he argued, explaining: “I thought it was appropriate – and I
think most people in the United Kingdom might agree — as the first African
American president”.
Mr Cameron heralded the president’s trade warning as a big moment in the
debate, dubbing it “a clear statement”.
But responding for the Vote Leave campaign, Tory Justice Minister Dominic Raab
told The Sun: “I don’t think the British people will be blackmailed by
anyone, let alone a lame duck US president on his way out.
“Barack Obama was doing an old friend a favour for purely political reasons.
“You can’t say on the one hand that Britain and America’s special relationship
is as strong as ever and it always will be, and on the other hand say if you
don’t take my advice then you will be at the back of the queue.”
But the president also admitted that Britain’s cherished Special Relationship
will the US “will continue” even under a Brexit, as “that is solid”, adding:
“We are so bound together, that nothing is going to impact on the cultural
and emotional affinity of our two countries”.
And he also admitted that uncontrolled migration into Europe was “a national
security issue”.
Mr Obama also joked about his and wife Michelle’s car ride at Windsor Castle
with Prince Philip at the wheel.
He said: “I have never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before, and I can
report it was very smooth riding”.
The president also heaped generous praise on the Queen after his 90th birthday
lunch with her, dubbing Her Majesty as “truly one of my most favourite
people” and “a source of inspiration for me like many other people around
the world”.
READ MORE:
Boris
Johnson: UK and America can be better friends than ever Mr Obama… if we
LEAVE the EU
Nick
Clegg blasted for claiming it would be ‘unpatriotic’ to back a Brexit in the
EU referendum
Earlier in the afternoon, Mr Obama held two hours of talks the PM on the fight
against IS in Syria and Libya.
The talks come ahead of a ‘G5’ summit on Libya in Germany on Monday, when the
PM and the president are joined by Angela Merkel as well as France’s
Francois Hollande and Italy’s Matteo Renzi.
Mr Cameron said the pair agreed to “look at whether there’s more we can do to
strengthen Libyan coastguard”.
And vowing to stop warped IS from spreading its fledgling territory across the
lawless North African country, Mr Obama added: “Where both David and I are
heavily committed is that we can’t wait if Isil is starting to get a
foothold there”.
Chancellor George Osborne, Home Secretary Theresa May, Defence Secretary
Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were also at the talks
with the president and his White House team around No10’s cabinet table.
Mr Obama’s three day visit is his last trip to the Britain as president before
he steps down in January next year.
Today, the president will hold a town hall-style meeting with your leaders in
Victoria, central London.
Mr and Mrs Cameron will then join him for a “private dinner” tonight at the US
Ambassador’s grand residence in Regent’s Park, Winfield House.
BREAK – Snap poll:
Should Obama intervene in ?
60% Should not
29% Should
10% Don’t know— Sky Data (@SkyData)
New poll:
Will Obama make you more or less likely to vote Remain in ?
25% More
17% Less
57% No difference— Sky Data (@SkyData)