A démarche is a formal diplomatic note. Just as flatmates don’t usually write formal letters, close allies don’t issue démarches. They certainly don’t leak them to the press. What was initially reported as a US démarche, issued by Joe Biden’s officials against Boris Johnson’s government before Biden’s arrival to the UK, should never have been allowed to happen. And even if its formal status has now been denied by the White House, that such an episode has unfolded at all shows that something has gone very wrong with Britain’s foreign policy
The stern message delivered by the US charge d’affaires Yael Lempert was sparked by the latest UK attempt to wriggle out of the Northern Ireland protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement. But the wider problem stems from failing to understand that countries are only as sovereign as the existence of other countries allows them to be.
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