Joe Biden says he ‘doesn’t hate Britain’…I’m here to listen’

The PM and US president held talks over tea at a hotel this morning as they mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

However, hopes that the visit could help break the deadlock at Stormont have dwindled – with the DUP slamming the ‘extremely partisan’ president for ‘hating Britain’ after he trumpeted his Irish roots.

Mr Biden will only ‘greet’ the leaders of the main Northern Ireland political parties, before giving a speech and immediately heading over the border to the Republic, where he will spend the next three days.

Mr Sunak suffered an awkward moment as he greeted Air Force One at RAF Aldergrove last night, with the president appearing to push him to one side in order to shake hands with someone else.

And despite fledgling signs of a thaw in relations after the Windsor Framework eased the row with the EU over post-Brexit rules in the province, US officials have suggested the leaders will not even talk about reviving a trade package.

Reporters shouted questions including if Mr Biden had a message for Northern Irish parties and why he was not discussing a trade deal.

But the president motioned that he could not hear, instead commenting on the ‘heck of a view’ from the upper floors of the Grand Central Hotel.