Number 10Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken to Joe Biden for the first time since the new US president was inaugurated.
Mr Johnson said on Twitter that he looked forward to “deepening the longstanding alliance” between the UK and the US as they drove a “green and sustainable recovery from Covid-19”.
“The prime minister praised President Biden’s early action on tackling climate change and commitment to reach net zero by 2050,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that, in building on the two nations’ “long history of cooperation in security and defence, the leaders “re-committed to the Nato alliance and our shared values in promoting human rights and protecting democracy”.
The two leaders also talked about “the benefits of a potential free trade deal” between the UK and the US, with Mr Johnson reiterating his intention “to resolve existing trade issues as soon as possible”.
After the inauguration of any American president, a political spectator sport immediately begins: the order in which the new occupant of the White House speaks to other world leaders.
It is a crude metric of relative importance, but a metric nonetheless.
I understand the call lasted for around 35 minutes and was the first conversation Joe Biden has had with a European leader as president.
The focus on climate change makes political and diplomatic sense. It’s a topic where a Conservative prime minister and Democrat president can agree, and it matters particularly to the UK as the host of the COP26 UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in November.
But when you compare what Downing Street said about the call and what the White House said, one thing leaps out.
No 10’s readout refers to a conversation about a trade deal. President Biden’s does not.
It’s widely expected there’ll be no such agreement any time soon.
Mr Johnson and Mr Biden “looked forward to to meeting in person as soon as the circumstances allow” and to working together during the forthcoming G7, G20 and COP26 summits, the spokesman added.
A White House statement said Mr Biden “conveyed his intention to strengthen the special relationship” between the US and UK and “revitalize transatlantic ties”.
Congratulating Mr Biden and Ms Harris – who is the first woman and first black and Asian-American person to serve as vice-president – the PM said earlier that their inauguration was a “step forward” for the US, which had “been through a bumpy period”.
Mr Johnson said it was a “big moment” for the UK and the US and their “joint common agenda”.
The PM and Mr Biden have never met in real life, but the new US president once referred to Mr Johnson as a “physical and emotional clone” of Mr Trump.
