Britons are opposed to Joe Biden’s interference in Brexit, an exclusive poll commissioned by Express.co.uk revealed. When asked “Do you agree that President Joe Biden should not interfere over the future of Northern Ireland”, 79 percent of people said yes. Just 10 percent said no, while 11 percent said they don’t know.
This comes after it was announced that President Biden had appointed US Congressman Joe Kennedy as the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland.
The job has been vacant since Mick Mulvaney left the position at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency in January 2021.
The move is seen as an attempt to put pressure on the UK to accept Brussels’ demands that the province is in effect under its jurisdiction and broken away from Britain.
The issue cuts across the party divide, with both Conservative and Labor voters being opposed to the US President’s intervention.
Of those who voted for the Conservative Party in 2019, 80 percent agreed that Mr. Biden should not interfere in the future of Northern Ireland.
Of those who voted Labor in 2019, 79 percent agreed he should not interfere.
The poll, conducted by Techne UK on December 21 and 22, spoke to 1,633 people.
Joe Kennedy III is a former Congressman who is the grandson of Bobby Kennedy and great-grandson of the first Joe Kennedy who was ambassador to the UK.
It has been met with fury from the Conservative Party, with one insider telling Express.co.uk that Mr Kennedy’s appointment is a “complete wind up for the Conservative party”, adding that it has “ruffled loads of feathers already”.
The insider said there have already been “lots of rumblings” about Mr Biden’s decision, describing the Congressman as a “complete republican”.
The source added: “People aren’t happy about it.”
Meanwhile, a senior member of the Conservative Party’s European Research Group told Express.co.uk: “When I saw Joe Kennedy named I thought it as a wind-up to annoy people like me.
“I had to check whether it was April 1 or not. The decision would be ludicrous.”
Mr Kennedy has strong links with Sinn Fein and is part of the Irish American lobby which has pushed Democrat policy into a pro-EU position on the thorny issue of the Northern Ireland protocol.
The UK has been locked in talks with the EU over the protocol – which was agreed as part of the withdrawal agreement to avoid a hard border in Ireland post-Brexit – since October 2021.
It allows Northern Ireland to remain within the EU’s single market for goods but it has faced criticism because a border was effectively created between Great Britain and Northern Ireland down the Irish Sea.
The border has led to delays, supermarket shortages and increased costs for businesses in Northern Ireland.
Previously, the Biden administration warned Liz Truss’ government against “efforts to undo” the protocol.
Mr Biden is understood to be seeking a bigger role in the issue, which has been a major point of contention since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016.
