March 28. 2024. 9:53

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The Brief — Joe Biden vs Perfidious Albion


Speaking at a Democratic party event in New York last week, President Joe Biden clumsily outlined the rationale behind his four-day visit to the island of Ireland in April.

The trip was “to make sure they weren’t…, the Brits didn’t screw around, and Northern Ireland didn’t walk away from their commitments”.

It was a quintessentially Bidenesque statement, replete with mangled syntax, one difficult to decode without deeper context.

Predictably, the British press and parts of the UK political establishment reacted with indignation to the perceived slight.

The Daily Mail branded the comments “yet another snub to Britain”, while the Express portrayed the “shock attack on Britain” as a “disgrace and embarrassment”. The former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Arlene Foster, cited the remarks as proof that Biden “hates the UK”.

However, to those familiar with the US president’s mindset (and gaffe-prone rhetorical style), the meaning of the statement was more nuanced.

Biden visited Ireland to ensure the Northern Ireland protocol, a key document struck in the wake of Brexit, would be upheld, preventing a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Britain had previously threatened to suspend parts of the Protocol during tense negotiations with the EU, essentially imperilling the agreement – a move that angered US lawmakers.

Apart from the intent of Biden’s remarks, the wording itself is revealing. There are more than a handful of examples of Joe Biden adopting a prickly tone towards Britain, breaking from expected diplomatic niceties.

Much of the antipathy towards the UK seemingly stems from Biden’s personal understanding of what it means to be an Irishman.

In a discussion about sectarian violence in Iraq between Shia and Sunni Muslims, held whilst he was vice president in the Obama administration, he reportedly said: “I completely understand the situation. They hate each other. I’m Irish. I hate the English.”

Asked by the BBC for an interview, Biden shrugged off the request by responding “The BBC? I’m Irish!”

And Biden compared the centuries-old treatment of Irish Catholics by Britain to the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of Israel.

“My background and the background of my family is Irish American, and we have a long history of – not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people – with Great Britain and their attitude toward Irish Catholics over the years, for 400 years,” he said.

Of course, the history between Ireland and its former colonial master has been fraught, to put it mildly.

Irish history books are full of British misdeeds, whether it be the Penal Laws that curtailed Irish Catholics’ ability to own land or vote, the British authorities’ attitude that the Irish famine of the 1840s was the result of “the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the [Irish] people”, or the partition of the country in the 1920s.

For a nation as adept at holding a grudge as Ireland, history itself is a sumptuous banquet from which to nourish grievances.

And Joe Biden, the Irish American president that often boasts of his County Mayo roots, has undoubtedly gorged at the same feast. “As long as I can remember, it’s been sort of part of my soul,” Biden once remarked of his Irish ancestry.

Modern Ireland enjoys a much-improved relationship with London, the days of Perfidious Albion – a derogatory term, coined by the French and used to paint the English as untrustworthy – largely consigned to history.

But in the mind of Joe Biden, who draws his emigrant Irish identity partially from its ancient opposition to English rule, the Old Enemy still requires watching so it doesn’t – as he so inelegantly put it – “screw around”.


The Roundup

The EU-India Trade and Technology Council met for the first time in Brussels on Tuesday, paving the way for cooperation in several strategic areas, but with underlying tension over international data flows clouding the horizon.

The 16 European countries participating in the “nuclear alliance” will prepare a roadmap to develop an integrated European nuclear industry reaching 150 GW of nuclear power in the EU’s electricity mix by 2050.

The right-hand man of German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, state secretary Patrick Graichen, is expected to step down following allegations of cronyism during the appointment process for the state-owned energy think-tank dena.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has started talks with the largest trade unions in the hope of restarting social dialogue after months of political wrangling over a contested pension reform, and building a new “life-at-work pact”.

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday an overhaul of the EU’s Customs Union, suggesting a common EU Customs Data Hub as well as a new EU Customs Authority.

The Greek government requested on Tuesday the disbursement of the third tranche of its EU Recovery Fund, with the European Commission agreeing to an exceptionally long five-month period to evaluate the request.

Opposition to globalism, immigration, and ‘wokeism’, alongside support for the traditional family should form the basis of a nationalist ideology across Europe and North America, according to speakers at a summit on national conservatism in London this week.

Do not miss this week’s Health Brief for a round-up of policy news.

Look out for….

  • Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides delivers pre-recorded video speech for the European Cancer Nursing Day.
  • Commissioner Thierry Breton meets with Delphine Ernotte, CEO of France TV and president of European Broadcasting Union.