Time for a Special Relationship reset, say Republicans

BRITAIN and the US need to “reset the Special Relationship” after a disastrous four years under President Joe Biden, experts said last night.

The warning follows recent tensions over differences in approach over Israel and Ukraine.

Downing Street was heavily criticised by Washington DC after a decision to suspend 30 export licenses to Israel.

And the PM was forced to return to Britain without managing to persuade Biden to allow the firing of long-range missiles from Ukraine into Russia – despite the UK having led on such decisions in the past.

It was not the first time both capitals failed to see eye to eye. In 1968, Harold Wilson famously refused Lyndon Johnson’s request to send troops into Vietnam.

But the “withering” of the Special Relationship has appeared especially acute under Biden’s administration.

“Things began badly with Joe Biden when, on the first day, he removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office which Donald Trump had previously returned,’ said Sarah Elliott, Special Relationship expert at the Legatum Institute think tank.

“And they have still not recovered from Biden’s decision not to inform the UK about the Afghanistan withdrawal plans. In fact, he refused to take phone calls from Boris Johnson for a full 48 hours.”

Biden’s Irish roots also drove him to interfere in the Northern Ireland Protocol, siding with the European Union and rejecting the Windsor Agreement.

“As Obama’s Vice President when he made the ‘back of the queue’ remark, Biden maintained an anti-Brexit, Eurocentric view and there was no trade deal,” she added.

“During his first meeting with Starmer, Biden actually urged the UK to adopt a more Europe-centric approach to foreign affairs. There are many in his administration who wish they only had to make a single transatlantic call – and that’s to Brussels.”

Even the much-vaunted UK-US critical minerals deal launched under Rishi Sunak has shown little momentum, despite its potential to shift supply chains away from China.

A new administration will present “a wonderful opportunity to reset the Special Relationship,“ she said.

“The US and UK share strategic challenges such as Russia and China. They must work together and focus on what they have in common.”

It may not be plain sailing, however.

Like Obama, Harris’ parents were born in countries colonised by Britain – India and Jamaica. Her father was a Marxist professor educated at Berkeley and she has already publicly committed to historical reparations, viewing the UK as an historical oppressor.

“The Special Relationship is certainly stronger than a presidency who has left it to wither through negligence,” said Rep Zach Nunn, a congressman for Iowa and a former parliamentary researcher for Sir Peter Bottomley.

“As someone who served multiple tours in Afghanistan and who worked as a veteran volunteer to get thousands of American and British allies out of there in private aircraft after the administration left people behind, it is disappointing that we would treat anyone that way, let alone our longest serving ally.

“We have a strategic opportunity to reset. But I am less confident this will happen under Harris, who was Vice President in an administration which saw no real forward momentum in our trade or security relationship.”

Trump, who has an emotional love for Britain, views the UK as a key plank of US national security, said , adding: “The UK remains our best on-ramp to helping our European allies.”

There is little to indicate that Harris, who has followed Starmer’s electoral playbook by keeping policies under wraps, will be different if she wins, said the influential Republican Senator Joni Ernst.

“Harris has not demonstrated any level of knowledge when it comes to foreign diplomacy,” she said, simply. “We don’t know where she stands on issues because she has not been transparent.”

Some were more positive, however.

“While this has not been an easy four years, Kamala Harris is her own person and there is no reason to believe the Special Relationship will be jeopardised under her watch,“ said former US diplomat Charles A Ray.

“Relations between two countries still depend on human relationships,” he said.

“Both Harris and Starmer were prosecutors, and both hold a similar world view, so this promises automatic chemistry.

“And both know how important the Special Relationship is. The bond between the US and UK has been the bond that has kept the European alliance together during rough times and a rupture could demoralise Europe catastrophically.”

Historically, warm relations between the occupants of the Oval Office and Downing Street have borne fruit.

In 1962, the close relationship between John F Kennedy and PM Harold MacMillan caused the US President to override his defence secretary Robert McNamara and secure independence for Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

The close personal bonds between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan led to both overt and covert US support of Britain during the Falklands War in 1982,

A Trump-Starmer relationship might also be fruitful, said Dr Alan Mendoza of the Henry Jackson Society.

“Harris and Starmer might get on well, but this doesn’t guarantee a boost for the Special Relationship.

“The Trump-Starmer relationship might be more interesting. Not because they will necessarily get on as people, but because if Starmer can work out what Trump the transactionist wants , he would have the power to move things forward for a better and positive relationship.”