Scottish nationalists are planning to launch a charm offensive on Joe Biden’s White House aimed at softening United States opposition to independence, it has emerged.
Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, said that he believed the close relationship between Scotland and Ireland could give SNP leaders an “in” with the new administration, and that a Biden presidency “increases our reach to tell Scotland’s story”.
Foreign Policy magazine, a US publication based in Washington DC, reported that the SNP is preparing a “diplomatic effort” to “reassure” a Biden White House that an independent Scotland would be a reliable ally to America.
Mr Smith told the magazine that he wanted to make sure there was a “visible Scottish angle” to US discussions over Brexit and that “connections with our Irish friends” could help.
Unlike Donald Trump, the president-elect is concerned about Brexit and particularly the implications for the Good Friday Agreement and a hard border in Ireland.
While Mr Trump’s mother was Scottish, he was a vocal critic of the SNP administration having fallen out with Alex Salmond over his golf course development in Aberdeenshire and wind farms.
Mr Biden, meanwhile, is proud of his Irish roots and there is speculation that he sees rebuilding relations with the EU, rather than securing a US/UK trade deal, as a priority.
“It increases our reach to tell Scotland’s story,” Mr Smith said of Mr Biden’s victory, and predicted relations with the White House would be “more cordial” than under Mr Trump.
“We want to make sure there are no surprises in terms of what is going to be happening with Scotland’s constitutional journey.”
He added: “The Irish aspects of Brexit from a US perspective have been crucial in discussion of future trade talks. We want to make sure that there is a visible Scottish angle to that.
“We have got all the connections with our Irish friends. We do not want to detract from their lobbying. But we also have a perspective on this, and because of their work, we also have an in.”
While UK ministers sought to cultivate a close relationship with Mr Trump, Nicola Sturgeon repeatedly departed from diplomatic norms by openly criticising the President and making clear that she wanted Hillary Clinton and later Mr Biden to win the presidency.
She said at a press conference on Friday, after hosting a meeting of the British Irish Council, that “I’m not sure anybody would be greatly surprised” at her preference for who won the election. She was quick to welcome Mr Biden’s win, describing it as a “wee break in the clouds” even before his victory had been confirmed.
Ahead of the 2014 referendum, Barack Obama said he wanted the UK to remain a “strong, robust, united and effective partner”, in what was seen as an intervention that offered a significant boost to the No side.
While doubts over the implications of Scottish independence for the Trident nuclear deterrent and the strength of the UK mean it is highly unlikely that Mr Biden would ever speak out in favour of independence, Washington adopting a neutral stance and declining to interfere in a future campaign would be seen as a victory for the SNP.
While the UK Government has said it would not allow a new referendum on independence to take place, Ms Sturgeon is set to seek a mandate for another vote at next year’s Holyrood elections and has insisted Downing Street would relent if she secures one.
Meanwhile, Chris Coons, a US Senator seen as frontrunner to be appointed Mr Biden’s Secretary of State, said on Sunday that he was excited about a major climate summit in Glasgow next year.
He admitted comments made by Boris Johnson, when he claimed Mr Obama’s “part-Kenyan” heritage had driven him towards anti-British sentiment, had not been “well received on my part” but said he did not want to “relitigate” past remarks.
Speaking about the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, scheduled for November next year at the Scottish Event Campus, Mr Coons said: “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for us to jump start a new chapter in US/UK relations.
“The conference coming up in Glasgow is an exciting opportunity… for us to convene the world and to hopefully present a joint platform to the world about our visions for climate change.”