US election: UK 'writing off' Trump, forging ties with Biden
11 Oct, 2020

According to a report in The Times, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been warned of a landslide defeat for President Donald Trump and the Republicans next month, Photo / AP
news.com.au

By: Frank Chung

One of Donald Trump's most important allies is reportedly "writing off" his re-election chances and rushing to build ties with Joe Biden.

According to a report in The Times, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been warned of a landslide defeat for the Republicans next month, with Democrats on track for a "triple whammy" of seizing the Presidency, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

British ministers have been told to forge links with Biden and his team, after private polling and modelling shown to 10 Downing Street last month put the chance of Democratic victory at more than 70 per cent, with one model this weekend increasing to 85 per cent.

Despite an official decision not to take sides, Johnson reportedly spoke to the US President last week to wish him well for the election – but privately the British PM has all but given up on Trump.

"They're writing off Trump in No 10 now," one senior Conservative Party member told The Times.

My best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus.— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 2, 2020

Key British officials have been cosying up to Democrats, with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab recently meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other powerful Congressional figures on a visit to the US.

Last month, Biden weighed in on Brexit and its possible impact on Northern Ireland, reportedly causing some UK officials to fear the Democrat is more likely to side with the European Union.

"We can't allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," he tweeted.

We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.

Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period. https://t.co/Ecu9jPrcHL— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 16, 2020

A number of British MPs and officials over the weekend raised concerns that hopes of a US-UK trade deal would go out the window if Biden wins.

"Recent pronouncements by Biden make clear he is unable or unwilling to understand the UK position on Brexit," Conservative MP and former Brexit Minister David Jones told The Sun.

"His stance is unsympathetic to the UK's people's wish to recover their independence."

With the US election now just over three weeks away, most opinion polls show Biden on track for a landslide victory.

The Real Clear Politics average currently has the Democrat ahead of the Republican by nearly 10 percentage points nationwide.

Polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight currently puts the chances of a Biden victory at 86 percent.

Biden said at a campaign stop over the weekend that "chicanery" at the voting booth was the only way he could lose, before walking back his comments after they were interpreted as casting doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome.

"Make sure to vote," the former vice president told voters in Pennsylvania. "Because the only way we lose this is by the chicanery going on relative to polling places."

Biden later clarified his comments, saying he was referring to Trump encouraging his supporters to "go to polls and watch very carefully".

The US President has repeatedly raised concerns of looming election chaos due to the large number of mail-in ballots this year.

Democrats have warned the public not to expect a definitive result on election night, with some even saying it may at first appear Trump has won in a landslide only for his lead to be chipped away as all the votes are counted in the subsequent days.