Britons oppose Joe Biden’s meddling in Brexit, an exclusive poll commissioned by Express.co.uk found. When asked “Do you agree that President Joe Biden should not interfere in Northern Ireland’s future,” 79 percent of people said yes. Only 10 percent said no, while 11 percent said they didn’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 position 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 demands from Brussels that the province should effectively come under its jurisdiction and break away from Britain.
The issue cuts across the party divide, with both Conservative and Labor voters opposed to the US president’s intervention.
Of those who voted for the Conservative Party in 2019, 80 percent agreed that Biden should not interfere in Northern Ireland’s future.
Of those who voted Labor in 2019, 79 per cent agreed that he should not interfere.
The poll, conducted by Techne UK on December 21 and 22, appealed to 1,633 people.
Joe Kennedy III is a former Congressman, 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 an insider telling Express.co.uk that Mr Kennedy’s nomination is a “complete closure for the Conservative Party”, adding that it has “ruffled quite a few feathers already “.
The insider said there is already “a lot of rumbling” about Mr Biden’s decision, describing the congressman as a “complete Republican”.
The source added: “People are not happy about it.”
Meanwhile, a senior member of the Conservative Party’s European Research Group told Express.co.uk: “When I saw Joe Kennedy mention a name, I thought it was a relief to annoy people like me.
“I had to check whether it was April 1 or not. The decision would be ridiculous.”
Mr. Kennedy has strong ties to Sinn Fein and is part of the Irish-American lobby that has pushed Democratic policy into a pro-EU stance on the thorny issue of Northern Ireland protocol.
The UK has been in talks with the EU over the protocol since October 2021 – agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement to avoid a hard border in Ireland post-Brexit.
It allows Northern Ireland to remain within the EU’s internal market for goods, but it was criticized for effectively creating a border between Britain and Northern Ireland along the Irish Sea.
The border has led to delays, supermarket shortages and higher costs for businesses in Northern Ireland.
Earlier, the Biden administration warned Liz Truss’ administration against “attempts to reverse the protocol”.
Biden is believed to be seeking a bigger role in the issue, which has been a major bone of contention since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016.