Joe Biden, US president-elect, has delivered a warning to Boris Johnson not to let Brexit destabilise the Northern Ireland peace process, in a call that suggested the “special relationship” is about to become more complicated.
Mr Biden surprised Downing Street by including Mr Johnson among the first world leaders to receive a post-election phone call, but the diplomatic niceties were accompanied by a firm message on Brexit.
“They talked about the importance of implementing Brexit in such a way that upholds the Good Friday Agreement,” said one British official, referring to the peace accord that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland. “The PM assured the president-elect that would be the case.”