LONDON (Reuters) – Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden wanted a Brexit trade deal to be clinched with the European Union so British Prime Minister Boris Johnson should knuckle down and strike an agreement.
“He is very committed to the Good Friday Agreement,” Martin said of Biden. “Particularly in relation to Brexit, he would favour obviously a deal between the European Union and Britain.”
“And I think that’s where, if I could respectfully say it, that’s where the British government should head, in that direction, in my view. It should knuckle down and… get a deal with the European Union.”
“It is crucial that we get a deal – in my view: where there is a will there is a way,” Martin told BBC Radio, adding that a no-deal would be “ruinous” for the United Kingdom.
Martin said Johnson’s Internal Market Bill had raised concerns about how far the EU could trust Johnson – including doubts about the solidity of a potential trade deal.
“I actually believe that Boris Johnson wants a deal. I think his gut instinct would favour a deal. The politics of what is happening within Britain is something that may influence issues,” Martin said.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Alistair Smout, editing by Sarah Young)
