Democracies around the world expressed horror at images of a mob storming the US Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden as the next US president, in scenes some feared would empower the nation’s geopolitical rivals.
In Britain, one of the closest US allies, there was universal condemnation of the violence in Washington on Wednesday night and politicians distanced themselves from Donald Trump.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister who formed close ties with the president on Brexit but has more recently had a cooler relationship, described the scenes on Capitol Hill as “disgraceful”, tweeting “the United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power”.