The US president’s remarks will be troublesome for Leave camp, writes Sebastian Payne.
Barack Obama was expected to lob a grenade into the EU referendum debate. Instead, he has launched a Trident missile at the campaign for Britain to leave the bloc. In a bromantic press conference with David Cameron, the British prime minister, on Friday afternoon, the US president said he had “not come here to fix any votes” and argued calmly, but forcefully, that the UK’s membership “magnifies” her role in the world.
It was stronger in tone than most were expecting. Although the special relationship could survive Brexit, Mr Obama said, it would make doing business trickier. Most consequentially, he said if Britain left the EU, it would go “to the back of the queue” in seeking a trade deal with the US.
This is a killer line and sinks a hole in a key argument for leaving the EU; that Britain freed from the shackles of Brussels would be able to seek new deals on its own. It is a gift to Mr Cameron and the Stronger In campaign, who will use this sound bite endlessly from now until the referendum vote on June 23.
Leave campaigners have already begun huffing and puffing in protest — the UK Independence party’s Nigel Farage has pointed out that Mr Obama will have left the Oval Office by the time any deal would be negotiated, so his comments are irrelevant. But the bipartisan letter from eight former US Treasury secretaries suggests there is no positive feeling for Brexit across the pond — except from Donald Trump, of course.
The other striking thing about President Obama’s intervention was his compassionate tone. His desire to see Britain remain in the EU is a mixture of self-interest — a UK outside the bloc would make America’s life harder — and helping out Mr Cameron. [...]
Which of these convinces and motivates voters will decide whether Mr Obama and Mr Johnson’s words will have any impact on the eventual result. At this early stage, the deck looks to be stacked in Remain’s favour.
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)
Related article on LSE: Explaining Obama’s intervention: Why an EU without Britain would be the worst of all worlds for the United States
Related article on The Guardian: Barack Obama has a right to be heard on Europe. And Britain should listen
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