A backbench Tory MP has told Joe Biden that Brexiteers have a bigger mandate for leaving the EU than he does for his presidency.
John Redwood wrote an open letter to Biden, insisting the UK will uphold the Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland.
The issue is threatening to cause friction between Boris Johnson and the US president-elect, who has expressed concerns about the UK government’s controversial law-breaking internal market bill and its potential impact on peace in Northern Ireland.
The pair have yet to speak since Biden’s victory was confirmed on Saturday and Democratic figures have criticised Johnson for his past comments about Barack Obama.
But Redwood dismissed Biden’s concerns that the legislation could lead to the erection of a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic as “false EU rumours”.
The ex-minister went on to compare the 52% to 48% Brexit victory of 2016 to Biden’s 50.7% to 47.7% victory over Donald Trump in the US election last week.
Biden garnered more than 75.4m votes, compared to the 17.4m who voted for Brexit.
In a letter to Biden published on his website, Redwood said: “I must stress that the UK does uphold the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
“As we leave the EU we have no plans to impose a hard border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, contrary to false EU rumours.
“It is the EU which seems to be planning new border controls on their side of the border which you may like to take up with them.
“The UK’s EU referendum gave us a larger percentage mandate for exit than your own convincing win, so you will understand the importance to us of becoming a truly independent country again on January 1 next year.”
Redwood also claimed Trump’s defeat showed there was still “considerable support for his Republican vision of growth promoted by lower taxes, putting America first when dealing with China, promoting peace in the Middle East, and protecting individual liberties” because the loser got more than 70m votes.
Addressing Biden, Redwood went on: “It is a pity he [Trump] has chosen to query the election outcome without setting out convincing evidence of the voter fraud he alleges. It makes your task of uniting America more difficult.
“The UK respects democratic mandates and agrees with you that the results of counting all the valid votes are the sacred instruction of the people which all true democrats respect.”
Responding to Redwood’s letter, Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “As much as I am sure that the US president-elect, Joe Biden, will be grateful for all the words of wisdom he will receive in the coming months, unfortunately this letter from John Redwood is not one of them.
“Joe Biden has made clear that the internal market bill does not respect the good Friday Agreement and that it should not be allowed to be a casualty of Brexit.
“John Redwood would be better spending his time sending letters to his own prime minister, urging the government to accept the changes set to be passed by the House of Lords later this evening, which will remove the illegal aspects from the legislation.”
Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smith said: “John Redwood has helpfully highlighted precisely why the new president is concerned about protecting the Good Friday Agreement.
“It is clear that, regardless of the consequences, Redwood doesn’t believe anything should interfere with his political nirvana. That includes imposing a hard border on the island of Ireland if the EU don’t accept all our demands.
“There is no mandate for that and, if the government does continue to undermine international law, it faces being given the cold shoulder by our friends in the States.”