Foreign Sec In DC In Attempt To Mitigate Concerns Over UKIM Bill

A joint press conference between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab is due to take place at around 1140ET (1640BST, 1740CET).

• The press conference follows a meeting between Pompeo and Raab taking place this morning. Raab has also met with Vice-President Mike Pence. He will also meet Congressional Democrats led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal (D-MA)
• Raab's trip to Washington D.C. is intended to try to assuage concerns in the United States that the British gov'ts controversial UK Internal Market Bill will put the Good Friday Agreement in jeopardy.
• A letter from senior Representatives from both sides of the aisle was sent to UK PM Boris Johnson yesterday, saying that were the UKIM Bill to threaten a hard border on the island of Ireland then they would scupper the prospect of any future UK-US FTA.
• A number of prominent Democrats represent districts with large Irish-American populations, notably in the party's strongholds in America's northeast around the states of New England, areas of New York city, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
• With a Joe Biden win in November looking an increasingly likely prospect, combined with the further prospect (albeit less likely) that the Democrats gain control of the presidency, the House and the Senate, the UK gov't could find the path to an FTA blocked if it is seen as overriding international law and risking the GFA at any point.