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| Eurosceptics pour scorn on Obama's warning against Brexit | Eurosceptics pour scorn on Obama's warning against Brexit |
| (2 days later) | |
| Senior Eurosceptic Conservatives have dismissed Barack Obama’s suggestion that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” in negotiations for a US trade agreement if it left the European Union. | Senior Eurosceptic Conservatives have dismissed Barack Obama’s suggestion that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” in negotiations for a US trade agreement if it left the European Union. |
| Cabinet ministers accused the “lame duck” US president of making meaningless threats to blackmail the British people into voting to remain in Europe. Others pointed out that Europe and the US had never struck a free trade agreement anyway, and claimed Obama was being manipulated by Downing Street. | Cabinet ministers accused the “lame duck” US president of making meaningless threats to blackmail the British people into voting to remain in Europe. Others pointed out that Europe and the US had never struck a free trade agreement anyway, and claimed Obama was being manipulated by Downing Street. |
| Chris Grayling, the leader of the House of Commons, said: “We should not give up our independence just because of what President Obama said.” | Chris Grayling, the leader of the House of Commons, said: “We should not give up our independence just because of what President Obama said.” |
| The intervention by Obama, who is popular in Britain, delighted the remain camp, but has left the leave campaign furious. “Barack Obama was doing an old friend a political favour,” said the justice minister Dominic Raab, referring to David Cameron. | The intervention by Obama, who is popular in Britain, delighted the remain camp, but has left the leave campaign furious. “Barack Obama was doing an old friend a political favour,” said the justice minister Dominic Raab, referring to David Cameron. |
| “You can’t say on the one hand that the US-UK special relationship is as strong as ever and always will be, and in the next breath say ‘take my advice or you go to the back of the queue’. I don’t think the British people will be blackmailed by anyone, let alone a lame duck US president on his way out.” | “You can’t say on the one hand that the US-UK special relationship is as strong as ever and always will be, and in the next breath say ‘take my advice or you go to the back of the queue’. I don’t think the British people will be blackmailed by anyone, let alone a lame duck US president on his way out.” |
| Raab’s stance was echoed by the Tory former defence secretary Liam Fox, who said Obama’s views would be irrelevant after the US presidential election. | Raab’s stance was echoed by the Tory former defence secretary Liam Fox, who said Obama’s views would be irrelevant after the US presidential election. |
| “We have a referendum at the end of June, presidential elections are in November, so whoever it is that will be at the helm of the United States, it won’t be Barack Obama. So, to an extent, whatever he says today is largely irrelevant,” he told BBC2’s Newsnight. “It will be the next president, and the next Congress, who will be in charge of any trade arrangements.” | “We have a referendum at the end of June, presidential elections are in November, so whoever it is that will be at the helm of the United States, it won’t be Barack Obama. So, to an extent, whatever he says today is largely irrelevant,” he told BBC2’s Newsnight. “It will be the next president, and the next Congress, who will be in charge of any trade arrangements.” |
| The energy minister Andrea Leadsom said: “The simple truth is that for years, the US and EU have failed to get a free trade deal organised. So the threat to the UK is meaningless from a president who has not delivered even for those who aren’t ‘at the back of the queue’.” | The energy minister Andrea Leadsom said: “The simple truth is that for years, the US and EU have failed to get a free trade deal organised. So the threat to the UK is meaningless from a president who has not delivered even for those who aren’t ‘at the back of the queue’.” |
| On Friday, Obama used a press conference with the prime minister at the Foreign Office to explain why he had the “temerity to weigh in” on the EU referendum debate. | On Friday, Obama used a press conference with the prime minister at the Foreign Office to explain why he had the “temerity to weigh in” on the EU referendum debate. |
| Related: Barack Obama ratchets up tensions in the EU debate | Letters | |
| “Particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other [leave] side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the UK does leave the EU – they say for example that ‘we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States’,” he said. | “Particularly because my understanding is that some of the folks on the other [leave] side have been ascribing to the United States certain actions we will take if the UK does leave the EU – they say for example that ‘we will just cut our own trade deals with the United States’,” he said. |
| “So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do. I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do. | “So they are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do. I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do. |
| “And on that matter, for example, I think it’s fair to say that maybe at 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 on 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.” | “And on that matter, for example, I think it’s fair to say that maybe at 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 on 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.” |
| Meanwhile, Boris Johnson was forced on to the defensive over his claim that Obama’s part-Kenyan heritage had given him anti-British sentiment and led him to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said the London mayor’s remarks betrayed “dog-whistle racism”. | Meanwhile, Boris Johnson was forced on to the defensive over his claim that Obama’s part-Kenyan heritage had given him anti-British sentiment and led him to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said the London mayor’s remarks betrayed “dog-whistle racism”. |
| On a visit to a fast-food restaurant in his Uxbridge constituency, Johnson said: “The crucial point is that I’m a big fan of Barack Obama – I was one of the first people to come out in favour of him ages ago. | On a visit to a fast-food restaurant in his Uxbridge constituency, Johnson said: “The crucial point is that I’m a big fan of Barack Obama – I was one of the first people to come out in favour of him ages ago. |
| “But I think there’s a weird paradox when the president of the United States, a country that would never dream of sharing its sovereignty over anything, instructs or urges us politely to get more embedded in the EU, which is already making 60% of our laws. | “But I think there’s a weird paradox when the president of the United States, a country that would never dream of sharing its sovereignty over anything, instructs or urges us politely to get more embedded in the EU, which is already making 60% of our laws. |
| “I think the issue really is about democracy; America guards its democracy very jealously and I think we should be entitled to do so as well.” | “I think the issue really is about democracy; America guards its democracy very jealously and I think we should be entitled to do so as well.” |
| Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, moved to switch attention to immigration as he insisted on Saturday that the government’s “national living wage” would provoke an influx of people from poorer EU nations. | Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, moved to switch attention to immigration as he insisted on Saturday that the government’s “national living wage” would provoke an influx of people from poorer EU nations. |
| He wrote in the Daily Mail: “I cheered the introduction of the national living wage, but when take-home pay in Britain is already more than five times higher than in the poorest EU countries, such a jump in wages will surely lead to another stampede to our borders. | He wrote in the Daily Mail: “I cheered the introduction of the national living wage, but when take-home pay in Britain is already more than five times higher than in the poorest EU countries, such a jump in wages will surely lead to another stampede to our borders. |
| “To make the living wage work for British people, we need to be able to control the number of people coming in.” | “To make the living wage work for British people, we need to be able to control the number of people coming in.” |
| Meanwhile, on the last day of his visit to London, which included attending a dinner for the Queen’s 90th birthday, Obama made an early-morning trip to the Globe theatre in Southwark. At the open-air venue, a reconstruction of the one where many of William Shakespeare’s greatest works were performed, he watched a series of scenes from Hamlet to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. | Meanwhile, on the last day of his visit to London, which included attending a dinner for the Queen’s 90th birthday, Obama made an early-morning trip to the Globe theatre in Southwark. At the open-air venue, a reconstruction of the one where many of William Shakespeare’s greatest works were performed, he watched a series of scenes from Hamlet to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. |
| Actors from a company of 16, who embarked on a two-year world tour in 2014 playing to more than 100,000 people in 197 countries, gave the performance specially for Obama, who watched intently and was seen swaying back and forth to the music. | Actors from a company of 16, who embarked on a two-year world tour in 2014 playing to more than 100,000 people in 197 countries, gave the performance specially for Obama, who watched intently and was seen swaying back and forth to the music. |
| Clapping loudly at the end, he was invited to join the actors on stage. He said: “Let me shake hands with everyone. That was wonderful. I don’t want it to stop.” | Clapping loudly at the end, he was invited to join the actors on stage. He said: “Let me shake hands with everyone. That was wonderful. I don’t want it to stop.” |
| The president then went to a town hall-style event in central London, where he answered questions from young people, and met the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. | The president then went to a town hall-style event in central London, where he answered questions from young people, and met the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. |
| Obama will end the day at a dinner with Cameron and the US ambassador, Matthew Barzun, at the envoy’s residence, before travelling to Germany on Sunday. | Obama will end the day at a dinner with Cameron and the US ambassador, Matthew Barzun, at the envoy’s residence, before travelling to Germany on Sunday. |