Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry has said that Boris Johnson should have denounced the behaviour of Donald Trump in his claims the US election result as “wrong”.
Appearing on Sky News she also warned that achieving a trade deal with the United States could take “many years”. she said: “The reality is actually getting an all-singing, all-dancing trade deal is something that takes many years and is quite complex and quite difficult to put together.
“I think that the right approach would be this: would be for us to say of course we want to increase trade and one of the things that we now have in common with the new president is our commitment to climate change.
“We should be working with them in order to be able to tackle climate change together. And, actually, there are all sorts of opportunities in terms of jobs and growth in that – let’s work together on that.
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“Let’s also then, as the next thing, is make sure that we have a proper deal with the European Union, with whom we do half of our trade, and that we’re not undermining the Good Friday Agreement – and then we can move on to working with the United States further on other areas where we could increase trade.”
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it was right to proceed “carefully and sensitively” in welcoming Joe Biden’s victory following a fraught US election.
READ MORE: US president election: Politicians congratulate Joe Biden on US election win
Asked on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday whether he was fuelling conspiracists in his congratulatory tweet which said “processes are still playing out”, Mr Raab said: “No, I think that’s a very partisan skew on it. The reality is we want to respect the integrity and processes in place.
“It is not for us to start adjudicating on the appeals, claims and counter-claims.
“But what we have said is the result is now very clear. I think it is beyond reasonable doubt, in my view…
“Frankly there are those who want to criticise the UK at this point in time, come what may, on whatever we say and whatever this Government says, but I’m going to focus on the substance.
“People complain about interference in our politics here – I think it is right to tread carefully and sensitively, particularly after what was clearly a very close election, far closer than the media or the pundits expected, and has been contentious in all sorts of ways.
“So, we proceeded sensitively and carefully, we wanted to respect the process, but we look forward to working with the new administration.”
Dominic Raab said that “in principle, yes, of course” all votes should be counted in a democratic election.
Mr Raab said: “Look in principle, yes of course – although I’m not going to get drawn into….”
“I think what we do is wait until the result is clear beyond doubt, it is now.
“We welcome President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, we’re looking forward to working with them.
“We really don’t want to get drawn into the cut and thrust, the controversies, the claims, the counter-claims, either in the election or in the immediate aftermath, and that is we respect Americans’ rights to choose for themselves and we respect the checks and balances in the American system which will produce, as they have, a clear result.”
Ex-chancellor Sajid Javid said he felt a Joe Biden presidency would offer a better chance to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with the US than under a Trump administration.
Put to him that a trade deal would have been easier under Donald Trump, he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: "Not at all. In fact, I think a trade deal with Joe Biden is far more likely.
"Let's look at the evidence, let's look at what Donald Trump actually did when he was in office when it came to trade with the UK.
"He slapped tariffs on UK aluminium, UK steel, Scotch whisky - that not only hurt people in America in terms of higher prices, but it also cost jobs here in the UK.
"President Trump is a protectionist, he has been very clear about that, he's paralysed the WTO (World Trade Organisation).
"We now want to strike more trade deals across the world and actually what you need is a president who believes in free trade, and that's what we're going to have with Joe Biden."
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