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23-04-2016, 05:50 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobil...e/2724012.html (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/world/obama-issues-stark-trade/2724012.html)
Obama issues stark trade warning against Brexit
POSTED: 23 Apr 2016 03:05
US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London on Apr, 22, 2016, with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (unseen) following a meeting at Downing Street. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall/Pool)
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LONDON: Barack Obama warned Britain against leaving the European Union on Friday (Apr 22), undercutting a key argument of eurosceptics by saying London would be "at the back of the queue" for a post-Brexit trade deal.
The US president's detailed comments on the Jun 23 membership referendum at a press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron drew a furious reaction from campaigners to leave the European Union.
Standing alongside Cameron at the Foreign Office in London, Obama said Britain was "at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe".
The president, whose term ends next January, made an unusually detailed and heartfelt intervention in the politics of another country and repeatedly spoke of the "special relationship" between Britain and the US.
But his most significant remarks in nearly an hour of comments came on trade, reflecting growing concern in Washington at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU.
Asked what would happen if Britain did vote to quit, Obama said that while "maybe at some point" it could seal a trade deal with the US, "it's not going to happen any time soon." "The UK's going to be at the back of the queue," Obama added.
Anti-EU campaigners like London Mayor Boris Johnson have made the claim that Britain could cut free trade deals with allies around the world a key plank of their argument for leaving the bloc.
Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party, immediately dismissed the president's comments on Twitter.
"President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum," he wrote. "Trade deal of course in both countries' interests."
For his part, Cameron restated his case for Britain remaining in the EU, a close fight which will define his political legacy. "Now I think is a time to stay true to our values and stick together with our friends and allies," he said.
Pedestrians walk past a souvenir shop decorated with the US and British Union Flag before the visit by the US president Barack Obama and his wife US First Lady Michelle Obama. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
CHURCHILL BUST ROW
Obama's comments added fuel to a controversy ignited earlier by an article he wrote for Friday's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The president argued that Britain's place in the European Union magnified its global influence and invoked the memory of US troops who died in two world wars.
"The outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States," he wrote in comments published at the start of his four-day visit.
"Tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe's cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are."
Johnson, the leading face of the eurosceptic campaign, said it was "downright hypocritical" of the US to intervene as it would not accept the same limits on its own sovereignty as EU members do.
"For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy is a breathtaking example of the principle of do as I say, not as I do," Johnson wrote in The Sun tabloid.
Johnson also repeated claims that "part-Kenyan" Obama may have removed a statue of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office at the start of his first term out of "ancestral dislike of the British Empire".
Obama jokingly dismissed the allegation and said he had another bust of Churchill in his residence. "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy," he said.
Ahead of the press conference, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 90 on Thursday, and her husband Prince Philip.
President Barack Obama and his wife first lady Michelle Obama are greeted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip after landing by helicopter at Windsor Castle for a private lunch in Windsor. (Photo: AP/Alastair Grant Pool)
'APPEAL FROM THE HEART'
Richard Whitman, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent, said Obama's was "an unusually personal intervention". "He's making a very strong appeal from the heart," he said.
"It will be difficult to say from the polls whether his intervention made a significant difference but I think that it creates a narrative which appears to be favouring the 'Remain' campaign."
A poll by Sky News television found 57 per cent said Obama's intervention would make "no difference" to their vote.
While experts warn many people have not yet decided how to vote, the "Remain" camp currently has 54 per cent support compared to 46 per cent for "Leave", according to an average of the last six opinion polls by academics at the What UK Thinks project.
- AFP/ec
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?228574-Powerless-Helpless-USA-has-tiny-influence-over-British-EU-QUIT&goto=newpost).
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobil...e/2724012.html (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/world/obama-issues-stark-trade/2724012.html)
Obama issues stark trade warning against Brexit
POSTED: 23 Apr 2016 03:05
US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London on Apr, 22, 2016, with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (unseen) following a meeting at Downing Street. (Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall/Pool)
A
A
LONDON: Barack Obama warned Britain against leaving the European Union on Friday (Apr 22), undercutting a key argument of eurosceptics by saying London would be "at the back of the queue" for a post-Brexit trade deal.
The US president's detailed comments on the Jun 23 membership referendum at a press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron drew a furious reaction from campaigners to leave the European Union.
Standing alongside Cameron at the Foreign Office in London, Obama said Britain was "at its best when it is helping to lead a strong Europe".
The president, whose term ends next January, made an unusually detailed and heartfelt intervention in the politics of another country and repeatedly spoke of the "special relationship" between Britain and the US.
But his most significant remarks in nearly an hour of comments came on trade, reflecting growing concern in Washington at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU.
Asked what would happen if Britain did vote to quit, Obama said that while "maybe at some point" it could seal a trade deal with the US, "it's not going to happen any time soon." "The UK's going to be at the back of the queue," Obama added.
Anti-EU campaigners like London Mayor Boris Johnson have made the claim that Britain could cut free trade deals with allies around the world a key plank of their argument for leaving the bloc.
Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party, immediately dismissed the president's comments on Twitter.
"President Obama won't be in office by the time we're out of the EU post-referendum," he wrote. "Trade deal of course in both countries' interests."
For his part, Cameron restated his case for Britain remaining in the EU, a close fight which will define his political legacy. "Now I think is a time to stay true to our values and stick together with our friends and allies," he said.
Pedestrians walk past a souvenir shop decorated with the US and British Union Flag before the visit by the US president Barack Obama and his wife US First Lady Michelle Obama. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
CHURCHILL BUST ROW
Obama's comments added fuel to a controversy ignited earlier by an article he wrote for Friday's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The president argued that Britain's place in the European Union magnified its global influence and invoked the memory of US troops who died in two world wars.
"The outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States," he wrote in comments published at the start of his four-day visit.
"Tens of thousands of Americans who rest in Europe's cemeteries are a silent testament to just how intertwined our prosperity and security truly are."
Johnson, the leading face of the eurosceptic campaign, said it was "downright hypocritical" of the US to intervene as it would not accept the same limits on its own sovereignty as EU members do.
"For the United States to tell us in the UK that we must surrender control of so much of our democracy is a breathtaking example of the principle of do as I say, not as I do," Johnson wrote in The Sun tabloid.
Johnson also repeated claims that "part-Kenyan" Obama may have removed a statue of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office at the start of his first term out of "ancestral dislike of the British Empire".
Obama jokingly dismissed the allegation and said he had another bust of Churchill in his residence. "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy," he said.
Ahead of the press conference, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had lunch at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 90 on Thursday, and her husband Prince Philip.
President Barack Obama and his wife first lady Michelle Obama are greeted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip after landing by helicopter at Windsor Castle for a private lunch in Windsor. (Photo: AP/Alastair Grant Pool)
'APPEAL FROM THE HEART'
Richard Whitman, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent, said Obama's was "an unusually personal intervention". "He's making a very strong appeal from the heart," he said.
"It will be difficult to say from the polls whether his intervention made a significant difference but I think that it creates a narrative which appears to be favouring the 'Remain' campaign."
A poll by Sky News television found 57 per cent said Obama's intervention would make "no difference" to their vote.
While experts warn many people have not yet decided how to vote, the "Remain" camp currently has 54 per cent support compared to 46 per cent for "Leave", according to an average of the last six opinion polls by academics at the What UK Thinks project.
- AFP/ec
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?228574-Powerless-Helpless-USA-has-tiny-influence-over-British-EU-QUIT&goto=newpost).