Deputy Prime Minister meeting with the Vice President of the United States
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Vice President of the United States Joe Biden had a bilateral meeting at 10 Downing Street today.
A transcript of their words from the start of the meeting is below.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:
“It’s great to see you again. We’re going to discuss a lot of things. Foreign policy challenges which we share and work together on, whether it’s our common endeavour in Afghanistan, the challenges in north Africa, the issue of Iran or the urgent and ongoing need to make progress on the Middle East peace process.
“And also we’ll be discussing the prospects for a transatlantic free trade agreement between Europe - the EU - and the United States, which is something that has been talked about a lot for many, many years, but it’s been an elusive project to get going.
“But if we can work together to overcome the obstacles on both sides of the Atlantic, I’m absolutely sure that it will be, we’re all sure it will be something that will create a significant boost to prosperity and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Vice President of the United States Joe Biden said:
“We spend more time looking at each other in the situation room on cameras and on video talking to each other than we get to do in person. We’ve established a great relationship and as you all know, the most open relationship we have with any nation in the world is with Great Britain, and we do have a lot to discuss because we both have a lot to say in the areas you mentioned.
“So I’m looking forward to not only having this meeting but the meeting with the Prime Minister as well. The President sends his best to both of you and I’m delighted to be here today.”